Aboard
by Cerulean Pen
Summary: Captain Buzz Lightyear has only his best friend, and Sheriff assistant, Woody. When two mysterious girls show up on the Starship, how will these life-long boy friends react to suddenly having girls with them? Buzz/Jessie, some BLoSC/AU. 45th story!
1. Chapter 1: Star Command Gets Jessie

Aboard

Summary: Captain Buzz Lightyear has only his best friend, and Sheriff assistant, Woody. When two mysterious girls show up on the Starship, how will these life-long boy friends react to suddenly having girls with them? Buzz/Jessie, some BLoSC/AU.

English Romance/Adventure Rated: T Chapters: Words: Buzz Lightyear & Jessie

**This is my first real human-fic, except for "The Sheriff and the Seamstress" which has a more Western take on it. This, however, is a total space story, and I'm not quite sure how everyone else does their Buzz, space, stories. Okay, I'll shut up, so you can read, review, and enjoy!**

Chapter 1:

Star Command Gets Jessie

Buzz Lightyear glanced out his window, seeing the same inky black depths of space. Contrary to the views on Earth, there weren't any stars close together, but he could see the distant glow of Neptune, which they had passed a few days ago. He smiled a bit, before turning on his heels, looking around at his office a moment. Like most of the rooms on the Starship, it was green with a purple and white border. He had a desk, of course, with a chair, phone, computer, and papers, like he had used on Earth.

Buzz was an active member of Star Command, ranking high as a commander. They were in charge of bringing back Earth's main power source: gems. The rare, multi-colored jewels were only mined on distant planets, and now that the planet he had once lived on had run out, they were on a mission to bring back enough to last the planet through another ten millenniums.

"Buzz?"

He looked up, to see his best friend and partner, Woody Pride, at the doorway. Unlike him, he preferred to wear Western attire, while everyone else stuck to a futuristic, space look. With brown eyes and brown hair, not to forget a matching hat, he trusted him with his life. "Yes?"

"The pilot requested our presence," Woody explained, shrugging as to demonstrate that he had no idea what the pilot needed from them. He was ranked almost as high as Buzz, as a law enforcer, which he treated the same as when he was on Earth as a Sheriff.

"Really? Do you think we've gone off course?" Buzz asked, as they started down the white, sealed off hallways of the ship. Various doors, with numbers painted on them in vibrant green, passed them as they walked. "We passed Neptune behind schedule, we might not get to Pluto until January."

The two arrived at the door of the control room, where the pilot continually steered the ship. Exchanging one more glance, they walked in, surprised to be greeted by their only female officer aboard, Crystal. Being the only female, she had taken on an ice blue attire, keeping her long blond hair pulled back. "Hi guys, Pilot Rex would like to see you," she told them, pulling her ear piece back down to her mouth. Crystal kept herself busy, delivering and transferring calls, but had gotten to know the men very well.

He tipped his cowboy hat to her before he and Buzz walked through the sealed door, opening it up with a slight hiss of air. The control room itself had a huge view of the space beyond them through a glass windshield, while a very complicated system of buttons, levers, and controls covered the dashboard.

Pilot Rex turned around in his chair, looking upon them with rather restless green eyes, that darted around the room so often, they never rested in the same place twice. "Uh, Buzz Lightyear and Woody Pride, I assume?"

"Yes," the two simultaneously answered, anxious to know why they were in this room. They turned their sight slightly above the pilot's head, getting a clear view of the space they had been journeying in for so long. It seemed different at this angle, with more bright stars dotted in the distance. The dark vastness didn't feel so empty, a sudden optimism that there was more out there.

"We have found ourselves in a most…unusual situation," Rex finally started, nervously fidgeting with his hands, his eyes skimming over the large metal door adjacent to the large windshield. "You see, we've got two people who have recently been rescued by our team. I was hoping that you could, excuse this saying, take them under your wing."

Once again, they looked at each other, not exactly sure what to say. They're lives were busy enough with their jobs on the ship, even though they wanted to help out. They silently agreed, turning back to Pilot Rex, who was anxiously awaiting their answer. "All right, we'll mentor these new people," Buzz answered, while the pilot seemed to visibly relax.

"Good," Rex sighed, clicking one of the hundreds of buttons, speaking into a small speaker set up next to the button. "Crystal, bring in the rescues, we've got two here that will take care of them."

Only a moment passed before the hiss of air came again, as Crystal stepped in, pushing up her headset. "Okay, we've got the two coming in now," she started, checking something off on her clipboard. "Now, I want you guys to be nice to them, they were trapped on a tiny space shuttle that had been hurtled into the galaxy. Oh, here they are now."

As Woody and Buzz turned around, nothing could have prepared them for the two people that walked through the door. Since they had been expecting men, this was absolutely shocking, especially when they saw just how different they were.

The first girl was tall and skinny, with a long red braid, plus a red leather cowgirl hat. She had bright emerald eyes, pale skin, and wore a white long sleeved shirt, jeans, and boots. The second girl was shorter then her, still skinny, with hair almost purple, pulled into two ponytails, held back by a blue butterfly clip. She had dark eyes, tanner skin, and wore a long orange dress with buttons sewn on here and there, and brown shoes.

Crystal just smirked, with one eyebrow raised, before she turned, leaving them alone in the control room. They were all in shock, boys and girls alike, considering the two had recently been trapped within a miniscule shuttle.

Finally, Rex cleared his throat, rising to introduce them to one another. "Uh, Buzz, Woody, these were the two people we rescued that I told you about. This is Jessie and Dolly, who, as we have learned, were living on Earth, in America, as a cowgirl and a seamstress. Jessie, Dolly, these are your new mentors, Buzz and Woody, who will welcome you onto the Star Ship. Can you please escort these young ladies to your offices?"

In a slight daze, the two men nodded, signaling to the two girls to follow them through the maze of halls of the ship. They fell in time behind them, the only sound their footsteps echoing through the hallway.

After what felt like forever, they arrived at Buzz's office, where Jessie gave an audible gasp at the sight of more space outside his window. "Look at the view!" she exclaimed, her enthusiastic, Southern tone very pleasing to him. "You can Neptune from here, plus all of these stars!"

Dolly hung back, watching her cowgirl friend marvel over the space outside. She looked over, to see the cowboy standing next to her, watching Jessie as well. She thought it was so unfair that this had to happen to her and Jessie, even if they had crashed into such a large, important ship.

"It is a good view," Buzz awkwardly agreed, his sight flickering over to Woody, who waved him on. "Uh, would you like us to take you two down to your rooms here on the ship?"

"Do you mean we're staying here?" Dolly finally spoke, her dark eyes widening. The cowboy noticed that she had a particularly different voice, the tiniest bit deeper, with a more smooth, steady rhythm. "No. No! I have family back on Earth, I have a job, I have solid ground that can't all of a sudden loose oxygen." A tear slowly glided down her cheek, but she just scrubbed at it. "I want to go home!"

"It's okay Dolly, they're going to help us here," Jessie tried to assure her, patting her friend's back, only to have her hand brushed away. "I'm gonna miss the folks too, but we're millions of miles away from Earth now. Buzz and Woody want to help us here, we'll be safe here until we can go home, okay?"

The orange clad girl took a deep breath, allowing her to pat her back this time. "I just lost it for a moment there, the thought of being trapped in space was just…frightening." She beckoned for the redhead to bend down, so she could whisper in her ear. "Look, I think you and Buzz are going to hit it off, you can join with him as your assistant."

"Really?" Jessie asked, surprised that Dolly had gotten that out of a few simple words. A quick glance back at him, where she noticed his beautiful azure eyes. "All right, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, Buzz will be your mentor, I'll have the other one, who's name I forget," she assured her, trying to think of the cowboy's name. "Um, don't tell me, it was something strange, oh, Woody!"

"All right, then…" Jessie whispered back, before straightening back up, as the room went quiet. It was a truly awkward moment, while no one said a word, until she took a breath. "If we're staying here, do you know where we'll sleep?"

A place to sleep? Neither had thought of that, considering they only ventured into one section of the sleeping quarters, which was their room. "We can get you two a room set up, since we're required to have roommates. You'll be next to us, so if you have any questions, you ask," Woody added, keeping his eyes on Dolly. She seemed so…well, different might've been the word on Earth, but for now, she was unique. He had never met anyone with hair that shade, nor with such a quiet, yet moody personality.

The two girls, once again, silently followed them out of his office, down onto the lowest level. There were many closed doors, which probably led to double bedrooms, until they came to Room 95. "This is where you'll be sleeping," Buzz told them, opening the door to reveal two beds, a large window, an adjacent bathroom, a closet, a dresser, all in whites, greens, and purples.

Jessie smiled brilliantly, letting Buzz see it before she settled on one of the beds, picking up a pillow. "It's terrific!" she exclaimed, taking off her red leather cowgirl hat to shake out her braid. He felt his heart flutter, but really didn't notice it, for his brain was focused more on work now.

Dolly only nodded slightly towards them before sitting on the opposite bed, pulling her ponytails out. "Thanks," she finally said, taking the butterfly clip from her head in one swift motion.

Waiting a moment before leaving, Buzz closed the door to their room, and dragged Woody into their bedroom, closing the door behind him.

**Well, what do you think? It was pretty long (for me) and my first serious AU, AND my first BLoSC. You're probably already getting the vibe of a Buzz/Jessie future, which is this story. I tried really hard to get this right, but it's not perfect. *Smiles* Okay, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Taking The Knife

Chapter 2:

Taking The Knife

**Here I am, with my new human story, about Jessie and Dolly landing on the Star Ship. Buzz and Woody live there, and have been chosen to keep the two girls under their wings. It's exciting, because I've never written one of these before, so I can do whatever I want! *Evil laugh* All right, here we go, read, review, and enjoy! **

Woody turned to Buzz after he closed the door, clamping a hand over his mouth as he began to speak. "Shh…the girls can hear you through the wall," he shushed, gesturing to the wall, where muffled snippets of words could be heard from Jessie.

"I know," Buzz countered, sinking to his bed, letting out a long, stressed breath. "What are we going to do with them? I mean, Jessie is fine, and so is Dolly, but we can't have these distractions during our mission. I like them, I want to help, but Sheriff, we can't deal with all of this, unless we can convince Rex to assign them to someone else. Maybe Crystal would be willing to take them in, she's a girl, having two more girls around would be a good thing. You don't think I'm being selfish, do you?"

"Not at all, I was thinking the same thing when we showed them their room," Woody agreed, thinking over their strange situation. "We could talk to Rex about it, but I doubt Crystal would be willing to either: she's always shoulder-deep in work. If we want this mission done right, we've got to take them to someone else."

They got to their feet, heading out of the room for the control room once again, unaware of a certain orange clad girl listening in on their conversation, growing angrier and more aware with each word.

"They didn't volunteer, they were _assigned _to us," she muttered furiously to herself, pulling at the large yellow button on her dress, watching each thread slowly pop free. "They don't care about us, they'll just hand us over to someone else, like we're some kind of…toy!"

"You say something Dolly?" Jessie called from the other side of the room, causing her to freeze, silently weighting her options. The cowgirl had taken her long red hair out of the braid, brushing out the tangles.

"Uh, no, nothing," she answered quickly, trying to make herself look busy. Taking her tiny, travel sewing kit out of her pocket, Dolly began to sew the button she had been pulling back on her dress. In her mind though, she was exploring her options on how to…end this. Escaping was rather obvious, but too complicated, and more likely to be caught. Going along with it like Jessie was? Not after what she heard. Death?

Back on Earth, after her mother, Bo, had died, Dolly had slipped into a suicidal mood that seemed to last forever. Her first, and last-for now-attempt to kill herself had been ended by Jessie, which had totally jumpstarted their friendship. Now, those thoughts, like shadowy tendrils of smoke, began to swirl through her mind, along with the dark, tunnel-vision sight of her future.

She gave Jessie a fake smile, which was returned with a real one, edging towards the door. "I'm going to step out a moment for some fresh air," she lied, continuing to force a smile that hurt her cheeks.

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Jessie, truly concerned for her best friend after the small breakdown in Buzz's office. It made Dolly a bit guilty hearing how nice and curious she was, but she just shook her head.

"No, I'll go alone; goodbye Jess," she told her, finding her voice crack as tears threatened to appear on seen. To escape that, Dolly quickly left, closing the door behind her, thinking of a way to rid herself of this life…

Crystal lifted up the headset of her headphones, her eyebrow raising again at the sight of the two men. "Well, if it isn't Space Ranger and Sheriff, I thought you two were going to be 'busy' with our new 'recruits.'" She made little quotation marks in the air with her fingers to emphasize these words.

"That's just why we came down here, we need to speak with Pilot Rex," Buzz explained, while Crystal sighed, pulling the headset back down. "Is he available now?"

"Yeah, I'm paging him in," she explained, tapping her foot impatiently, before Rex picked up. "Hey, Buzz and Woody are here for an unscheduled visit, got a second to put down the controls and chat? Really? Okay, I'll send them in, they have a…complaint, you could say." Crystal gestured to the large metal door, popping it open with the same hiss of air as always.

They filed in, as Rex stood, turning his back against the large windshield, his eyes wide and glassy in surprise. "Uh, hello there, Crystal said you had some sort of, uh, complaint you wanted to file?"

"Well, it's just that we don't think we can take care of two girls while doing our mission," Woody confessed, speaking about the two like they were children, instead of adults like themselves. "We want to help them, we like them, it's just the fact that we can't juggle all of this at once."

Rex sighed, not getting mad or upset, only a small, sad sigh, before reaching across the dashboard for a picture. "Do you see this picture, boys? This is my wife, Trixie, the only love of my life, who sits at home now with three children to look after. I haven't seen them in years, but I still remember the first time I met her. Well, the reason we told you to look after Jessie and Dolly is the same reason."

As confused expressions passed their faces, Rex stood up, opening the door of the control room to reveal Crystal, not looking up from a futuristic fax she was sending. "Crystal's married, just like me, to a Southern musician on Earth, who goes by 'Slink.' She hasn't seen him in years either, but they already have a child at home."

Buzz and Woody were still baffled over why Rex was using marriage as an analogy for their request. He sat down in the chair, running a hand through his thinning hair before speaking again. "The reason for all of this is: everyone on Star Ship is required to marry before the age of twenty-six. We need a new generation of workers to come in after our first team passes away, so we have each member marry. That's why we chose _you _to take care of them, since you're already twenty-four years old."

"So…you're saying that, in order to continue working here, we have to _marry _Jessie or Dolly?" Buzz asked, bewilderment in his voice, finding his azure eyes growing larger with each word he said.

Rex gave an almost imperceptible, nervous nod, as the two men went slack-jawed, turning to each other in amazement. They had just met the two girls, and they now had to marry them before they turned twenty-six. It was the most shocking moment of their lives, coming at a hundred miles an hour, like a lightening bolt.

"Thanks," Buzz thanked lightly, still in a daze, as they walked out of the control room, while Crystal muffled a giggle at their shocked expressions, pressing a coffee mug in each of their hands.

As they started down the hallway, they turned to take the longest way back downstairs. Buzz gripped his mug so hard, he realized that a small burn was starting to form on his palm. "How in the world did this happen?" he asked, shaking his head at the thought. "I have to marry a stranger, just if I want to hold my job here, that's ridiculous!"

"It really is, if we have to marry, we need to have multiple people around, not just two girls out of fate," Woody agreed, as shocked as Buzz was about the situation. "I personally think that if Rex is so worried about not having enough workers in the future, he can worry about that without roping us into a marriage."

"But how are we going to tell them?" Buzz finally asked, taking a sip of coffee. "I mean, Dolly is already angry about having to stay here, imagine what her reaction would be if we told her she has to marry one of us."

"I have a feeling that you were warming up a little to Jessie earlier," he hinted, remembering how he had kept his eyes on the cowgirl earlier, also to be the one answering or questions or responding to anything else she said. "If we had to choose, which I sure hope we don't, would you choose her to be your bride?"

Buzz stopped in mid-step, as if it took his entire, non-moving body to think of an answer. He barely knew her, but there was something about her eyes…they were so beautiful and pristine, like a freshly mined emerald. There was her brilliant smile, her long silky braid, her Southern accent…was all of this enough for him to marry her? "I guess I would choose her, if I had to marry her, she seems nice enough."

They continued to walk, silently exploring options over how to tell the girls about their fates together. At one point, Buzz told him he was going up to his office to do some work. Woody said he would check on the girls before going back up to his post. Both promised to keep the secret hidden, until they could find the right moment to tell them.

Meanwhile, Dolly closed the door softly behind her, thinking of Jessie alone on the Star Ship. _She wouldn't be alone, she'd have Buzz, or whoever else would take over her life, _she thought to herself, bitterly thinking the last part. Her hand smoothed the wall, the sensation cool and smooth, so she laid her cheek against it.

This was it. No drama, no fanfare, no stops or last wishes or goodbyes or farewells or anything. Just a prayer, over her dead mother, a promise to not die in vain, and asking for Jessie to be all right. No tears fell, unlike last time she had tried this, when she began to sob before she could lower the knife and miss.

She wasn't going to miss this time.

Dolly pulled it out of the pocket, the Swiss Army Knife she kept at all times, just in case something happened. A sewing kit and knife were always with her, but now, the knife was here, poised in the air.

There were only seconds before the sharp knife would come down, spearing her chest, leaving her to die. She doubted it would hurt too bad, pain was something she was used to. Her beating heart would get to stop longing for her mother, who wasn't coming back.

Here we go…

"No!"

She had the blade pressed on her chest, just enough to feel how sharp the tip was, when she heard it echoing down the hallway, a cry for her to stop. Dolly opened her eyes, only having a second to breathe in, bracing for impact, as she was knocked to the side. The knife slid across the floor, clattering, inches away from her open hand. Disoriented, Dolly sat up, seeing it was Woody, who had stopped her, both hands over her arms.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he found himself asking, half-yelling, half-whispering this. Tears were pooling in her eyes, thinking of what could've happened if he had been just two seconds late. The knife would've impaled her chest, leaving her to bleed to death on the floor. Now, he was pinning her down, like she was some insane murderer, a fire in his dark brown eyes. "I swear to God, where in the world did you get that knife?"

"I keep it for emergencies, like this," Dolly whispered bitterly, slowly reaching for the knife, clutching the pearly white handle in her hand. The blade snaked closer to her arm, out of his sight, until she drilled it freshly into her arm, feeling the pleasurable, yet painful rupture of skin. She didn't know if she were crazy, or smiling, but she fell unconscious in a river of scarlet blood.

Jessie, who had heard him in the hallway, opened the door, looking down. She shrieked, a noise that even hit Buzz, who glanced up from his work, scrambling out of his office to find her. "Oh my God, Dolly! What hap-" Her eyes took in him over her, then all of the blood, plus the knife, putting the pieces together in the wrong way. "You!"

The cowgirl lunged at him, so they tumbled into the wall, with her gripping his throat, trying to choke him. They fought violently for a moment, until Buzz appeared, finding his jaw dropping to the floor. Okay, Dolly was dying on the floor, Woody and Jessie physically fighting like a wrestling match, all taking place in a hallway. "What is going on?"

"Murderer!" Jessie exclaimed, using one boot to pin him to the floor, pulling his arms back. *** **"He murdered Dolly, you murderer!" she yelled, as he fought back, pulling her next to him, so they tumbled into the other wall.

"Break it up!" Buzz hollered, ripping the two apart, still confused over what had happened. "Okay, Jessie, come with me; Woody, you stay here, and try to alleviate her wounds until we get back."

They separated, each with a different point of view of what had happened.

**Ta-da! Big ol' twist thrown at you, huh? With Dolly's mother being Bo, and dying, her suicide attempt, Jessie thinking that Woody had tried to kill her. Plus, the biggest surprise of all: Buzz and Woody have to marry Jessie and Dolly if they want to keep their jobs on the Star Ship! All right, after all that excitement, find some time to review!**

***=Someone has done that to Woody in the first two Toy Story movies. ("Toy Story" Buzz did it when they fought at the gas station, "Toy Story 2" Jessie did it when he thought she had turned on the TV.) Just thought I'd bring up a little token from the movies! **


	3. Chapter 3: Bitter Pasts and New Futures

Chapter 3:

Bitter Pasts and New Futures

**Yay! Thanks for the positive feed-back, I love writing this story as much as y'all enjoy reading it! (Word of advice: you might want to listen to "Whiskey Lullaby" during this chapter, it adds to the mood, especially since two lines from the song are hidden in here.) Just because I can add any twists as I go along…ah, the power of twist endings, after my favorite TV show writer, Rod Serling. (I love "The Twilight Zone", that's all me, Woody, and Dolly watched on New Year's Day.) All right, enough of my ramblings, just read, review, and enjoy!**

As Jessie followed Buzz through the Star Ship, she began to rant to him about the portion of the accident she had seen. "Dolly told me she was going outside for some fresh air," she started, while he tried to listen, to her, but found it hard. "So, I come outside after I hear a loud clattering noise and someone yelling, to find him pinning her down to the floor, a knife inches from them. Her arm was bleeding, then she fell unconscious, so I had to get him away from her."

"Jess, I know that's what it looks like, but Woody would never try to hurt anyone," Buzz assured her, quickly going down a flight of stairs. "But, I think your physical fighting went a little too far, he would never purposely stab anyone, especially someone he just met."

She remained sulkily silent, as he knocked impatiently on a door marked with a red cross. A man with shaggy brown hair opened it, wearing a long white coat, seeming surprised to see him. "Buzz! What brings you down here?"

"We have an emergency in the rooms," he explained, gesturing the stairs they had come up. "There's been a stabbing accident, we need immediate medical attention down there, John."

"You got it," John answered quickly, used to responding swiftly to emergency situations. He grabbed his largest medical kit, that was more up to date then band-aids and Bactine, walking alongside them as they half-ran back down into the rooms.

Woody, meanwhile, was trying to keep Dolly's knife wound elevated, taking off his own red neckerchief, pressing it against the gash, so that the blood blended right in. Right now, she looked so pale, so helpless, so unlike the small amount of her he had seen so far.

He didn't murder her: she was seconds away from murdering herself, there was no way he would hurt her. The knife still lay next to her, the tip covered with dried blood, as he used one hand to smooth back a lock of her purple hair. She looked a little like someone his father had once known, a woman that was said spun of true beauty, with snow-white skin, flaxen hair, and cerulean eyes. The woman was Bo, whom his father had tried to date, but ended up breaking his own heart.

Then the alcohol had come: watching his own father drink his problems away, a little at a time. If it hadn't been for Buzz, Woody may have taken the same escape route Dolly had tried to take. It wasn't easy to watch his father, his only parent, drink himself to death, over a woman who had given birth to the girl in front of him. The connection clicked when he saw the birthmark: a small heart, imprinted on her shoulder, which he had seen that one night his father had brought Bo home.

Now, he was tending to her wounds, trying to clean seventeen years worth of pain, suffering, alcohol, heart-break, false love, friendship, all being poured from the veins of someone he barely knew. Woody smoothed her pale cheek, wishing she wasn't unconscious, just so he could tell her something, anything.

"Woody!"

The moment was stripped from his hands as he heard Buzz's voice from the base of the corridor. In shock, he jumped, nearly slinging the blood-soaked kerchief into the wall, before holding it back against the wound. "The cut is pretty deep, make with a ten inch Swiss Army knife, right into the upper arm."

John smiled warmly, even as he opened his medical kit, taking out a clean, soaked washcloth, sutures, thread, and a needle. "You could become the next medical official," he told him, before soaking the wound. "All right, someone needs to be next to her, just in case she wakes up. I don't have the time or equipment to give her anesthesia, so would someone do that?"

Jessie was brooding, so she was out of the picture, so Woody took it upon himself of kneeling next to her, trying not to look up at the surgical procedure occurring at the same time. He brushed his hand against hers, her fingertips cold and smooth, hoping it would calm her down, even she wasn't aware of it.

John cut the thread, relieved at the successful stitches on her arm, handing the knife back to Jessie. "Now, the stitches will stay in, I'll send a painkiller down to your room tonight. When she wakes up, make sure she doesn't use her arm at all, keep her in bed for at least two days. All right, take care you guys, I hope your friend feels better!"

He disappeared down the hallway, leaving the four still on the floor, crouched around her. As Jessie shot him murderous glances, Buzz decided this had gone far enough. "All right, I want each of you to tell the story as you saw it, I can't have you two fighting all of this time."

"Well, we were walking back from the control room, which was when you went back to your office. I said I was going to check on the girls, which I was, until I came around the corner. Dolly had a knife in her hand, she was about to stab herself purposely in the chest before I ran over. I stopped her from killing herself, but she ended up cutting her own arm, falling unconscious. Jessie walked out as I was trying to stop her from hurting herself," Woody explained completely, looking over at the cowgirl.

"Oh…" she replied slowly, feeling guilty for hurting him for something he hadn't done. "I heard him yell 'no', so I opened the door, because Dolly had told me she was going outside for some fresh air. I'm sorry, it just looked so much like…well, you know what I mean. I should've taken the knife away from her, she tried suicide when we were only seventeen. Her mother was killed, someone so gentle and sweet, named Bo, who meant the world to her." Jessie looked down at the knife, memories coming back, the sight of the knife at her own home, slick with fresh blood.

Anger overcame her, bitter memories, causing her to hurtle the knife at the floor, screaming. "I don't want anymore sadness, I don't want to see anymore blood, or see anyone else crumpled on the floor! Why can't life have a happy ending?"

She had only been seven, standing at the front door of her house, terrified and alone, clutching a horse figurine, watching as people rushed past her into the house. There had been a gunshot last night, after her parents had fought, long and loud, so she pushed a pillow over her head, crying the memory away. Her parents had been using guns and knives and beer to end their problems.

"It's always got to be this way!" she exclaimed, the memory burned fresh in her mind, like it had happened yesterday, her fingers closing around the empty space that used to be her horse. "With people putting bottles to their heads and pulling the trigger, like they can drink their lives away or end it with a blade!"

Buzz found himself at her side, stroking her braid, the sensation his fingertips had been longing for. Her red hair was so silky smooth, he loved it despite the tears, which fell onto his arm. "We've all been there," he whispered to her, taking off her red leather cowgirl hat, setting it gently to the side. "Dolly's been there, you've been there, Woody's been there, I've been there."

"You have?"

"Watching people you love swallow down pills, gulping alcohol, finally resorting to the knife to end what they started," Buzz muttered in her ear, his voice cold and hard, at the memories. "Had a sister who loved a man who betrayed her with someone else. She was never the same after that, until she let herself die, over someone who was never going to love her back."

"Warmth fell over the sudden darkness, as angel's voices came crying out, begging your own forgiveness, looking back at how you drowned your own life in sorrow. There was light, the newborn sun, bringing rosy unto flesh of the absolve dead," someone whispered, soft and true, as everyone looked around in confusion.

Dolly had been listening, it was faint, but she had been listening, willing herself to listen to more of the sadness, the pasts of the three. Everyone they loved had gone the hard way, which made her guilty over trying to end it the same way. The quote had been Bo's, which was framed in her bedroom, written in her mother's beautiful calligraphy. It was supposed to be a quote about death, which is why she mustered it, moving her right hand slightly. It brushed against someone else's, while she pulled away, her left arm burning.

He leaned over her, keeping a close watch on her, until her dark eyes opened, slowly coming into focus with the real world. "Oh, thank God, you had us worried," he told her, pulling his hand away as well, putting the memory of pressing her wounds behind him.

"You shouldn't have worried," she muttered, trying to sit up, grimacing as she put weight on the injured arm. Dolly glanced down at the top of her arm, seeing the stitches, which reminded her solely of that night…held together by thread. She turned, only for a sharp pain to run back up her arm, one that made her teeth clench.

"Easy girl, you have to sleep this thing off," Jessie said, helping her to her feet, the two going back into the bedroom. After she laid her back in bed, Jessie stuck her head out of the doorframe. "Uh, thanks for everything you guys, sorry we had to deal with all of this. See you tonight."

They nodded, before going back to Buzz's office, where he could plainly see where he had dropped everything and ran. A pen was open, leaking ink all over a paper, which he grabbed, shaking vigorously to dry it of the ink. "When Jessie screamed, I kind of, you know, stopped in the middle of everything."

"You came when Jessie screamed?"

Buzz nodded, and Woody pawed at where his neckerchief used to be, used to pulling at the knot that kept it in its place. "I guess you heard her from down there, but I wish Jessie had remembered to take the knife away. It wouldn't of caused all of these problems…" Then again, he wouldn't have figured out that she was Bo's daughter, linked their pasts together. "But I figured out something."

"What?" Buzz asked, gathering the papers together, clipping them with a large paperclip, setting them to the side. He was pretty organized, which was the reason for all of the paperclips in one bin.

"My father's old girlfriend is her mother," Woody explained, picturing the heart-shaped birthmark on her shoulder. He had seen it, when Bo's dress sleeve came down, but along with it came a scream, so he quickly blocked it from his mind.

"The one who…was killed?" Buzz asked, his voice dropping to a whisper when he spoke the last part. He was the only one, besides Dolly, of course, who knew about Bo's horrible death. There had been a hold-up, a fight down a bar, which Woody's father had started.

He nodded, as silence encased the room, thoughts of pasts, presents, and futures drifting around, mixing into one sad atmosphere.

Maybe, just maybe, the girls would be the one thing to solve their broken, battered pasts, heal their scars, as they tried to heal them, until the marriage rule might work out.

**This chapter wasn't my best, I just wanted to deliver an update before I left tomorrow. I probably won't have any new things up until Monday, Tuesday, or even Wednesday. So, I put this up, even do I updated, like, two days ago, so I hope you enjoy! REVIEW! CLICK THE BUTTON!**


	4. Chapter 4: Do You Read Me?

Chapter 4:

Do You Read Me?

**I am back, once more! And, with the fourth chapter of "Aboard!" I just love to write this, I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, especially to caralina100, for listening to "Whiskey Lullaby" with it. (I know, the combination makes me cry, too!) Woody, Buzz, and Jessie have saved Dolly from herself, revealing their sad, suicide filled pasts along the way. Now, the two men are trying to figure out a way to tell them the marriage rule, while Jessie tells a sleeping Dolly how she feels about Buzz. =D! All right, on with the story: read, review, and enjoy!**

That evening, John brought the painkillers up to the girl's room, instructing Dolly to take two tonight to lessen the pain in her arm. Jessie thanked him again, as the purple haired girl took two, after reading the side-effects. As written on the bottle, she promptly fell into a deep sleep, leaving Jessie alone.

She sat cross-legged on her bed, watching Dolly sleep, which was not very exciting. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Buzz, though she didn't know why, over the fact that she couldn't _stop _thinking about him. Jessie let out a long sight, putting her head in her hands, considering every fact she knew about him so far.

He must've worked here for a short time, because he looked about her age. Jessie also knew that Buzz was highly ranked, she had seen the label on his office door, which was marked, "Commander." She was aware that he and Woody were longtime friends, just like she and Dolly. Jessie didn't quite trust the cowboy completely, but she was warming up to him after they found out the truth.

Buzz had stroked her hair, earlier, in the hall, when she had launched into her rant about the unfairness of an empty beer bottle. Jessie put her own hand over her braid, which she had let out, remembering the sensation of his strong hand on her hair. It was soothing, something she realized she missed, something she had missed out on during her childhood.

Bursting with things to tell someone, she pulled the chair in the corner over to Dolly's side. She was still in a deep sleep, so she was a worthy figure to express her emotions to. Jessie pulled her knees to her chest, then placed her chin on her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Dolly, we have to discuss something."

Nothing but a soft snore came from her, so Jessie continued, sighing loudly. "We have to talk about Buzz: I know I've only known him for, uh, maybe twenty four hours now. But, there was something about when we were in the hallway earlier, while you were unconscious. He was-was comforting…he stroked my braid, he cares about me. What do you think?"

Dolly's left eyebrow twitched slightly, which Jessie considered an answer, so she nodded. "Well, Buzz is nice…he listened to me when I was ranting, both times. He's, what's the word I'm looking for, caring, but he's brave, he works here, ya know. This place ain't all cupcakes and rainbows, I know they do dangerous stuff here."

She looked around the room, at her bed, where nothing but her horse figurine sat. Jessie reached over to grab it, running her hands over the crude initials carved on the bottom of the horse's hooves. _JP. _"I wonder if Buzz is his real name, or just a nickname, or maybe even both. I don't know if I should tell him my real name, I absolutely do not want him to start calling me Jessica. That sounds a little business-like, Jessie is much better, if you know what I mean."

Dolly didn't stir, leaving Jessie in silence, pondering all of the mixed-up emotions inside of her. She hated feeling this complicated about Buzz, someone she had just met. This couldn't be one of those "love at first sight" things could it? Jessie didn't even know if he liked her back, she could've been talking about a God forsaken married man.

"Dolly, if we had to choose, would you date Woody?"

Her pinky twitched against the mattress, which Jessie took as a yes, muffling her laughter. "If we were stuck here, and they were the last two men left on Earth, I would want Buzz. Would you want Woody, even though you would probably slap me if you were awake?"

She was silent, but the redhead was laughing for real now, for the first time since they landed. "I know at one point, you will say to me: 'I wouldn't date him if he were the last man left on Earth.' Just remember, when you do, I'm going to fall into a laughing fit, and not even remember why."

Jessie took off her hat, undid her braid, tying the yellow ribbon around her wrist. Still chuckling, she laid on her bed, deciding to sleep away this problem, picturing Buzz once more, until she laughed herself to sleep.

0o0

Buzz sat in his chair, twiddling his thumbs, focusing hard on the pearly white floor beneath him. Woody paced in front of the desk, his spurs clinking against the tiles, as Buzz shook his head, tired of thinking. "Okay, let's do a little skit, entitled: 'How Will Jessie and Dolly React To Us Having To Marry Them?' Okay, I'll be Dolly, and you'll be Woody…"

He rolled his eyes, but turned to Buzz, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Uh, hey, Dolly, I have to tell you something very important, but you might not like it. Well, you know Buzz, and-and, this concerns Jessie too, remember that. Um, we've just been informed that, in order to stay on the Star Ship, we've got to marry you two."

Buzz, in need of a little humor, gasped as loudly as he could, clutched his chest, and fell to his knees. "Oh God, first my arm, now this!" he exclaimed, barely able to hold back the laughter, pounding the ground dramatically with his fight. "Why, why?"

Woody crossed his arms in an irritated way, tapping the toe of his boot on the ground, waiting for Buzz to finish his little breakdown. "First off all, Dolly sounds nothing like that, nor would she say anything like that. Second of all, have you been taking bad acting classes, that was terrible."

"All right then, let's see you play Jessie," Buzz countered, letting another chuckle loose when he saw his cheeks turn bright red. "If I can't make the 'perfect Dolly' then let's see you step in Jessie's place. All right, let's begin. Jessie, I have some very big news, that will affect both yours and Dolly's lives. If we want to continue living on the Star Ship, you both have to marry us."

Woody let his jaw go slack, staring right at Buzz, letting the room fall completely silent before suddenly screaming. "WHAT?" he shrieked so loud, Buzz stumbled backwards, tripping over the chair, falling to the side. He couldn't contain his laughter for that fall, and fell to the ground, practically laughing hysterically.

Buzz got to his feet, dusting off his legs, looking at the cowboy having a fit on the floor. "Okay, that was not funny," he protested, even though he had a feeling that was a way that Jessie might react. "Well, I guess it was a bit more realistic then my Dolly impersonation, but not my much!"

Woody finally got to his feet, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye, trying to catch his breath. "No, it was not a bit more realistic, I just did dead-on Jessie, not to forget your graceful reaction. By the way, we better do this in a room with no chairs for you to fall over."

After the funniest of the situation died off, they sat side by side, continuing to ponder their choices for revealing this truth to the girls. "Woody, when they find out about this, they aren't going to freak-out: Dolly is going to freakin' kill us."

"Jessie confiscated her knife."

"People can find hidden things."

Woody let out his breath in one stream, just to let Buzz know he was agitated and frustrated about their problem. "This is hopeless, there's no possible way we can get them to not freak out or murder us while we're asleep. Unless…" He got a mischievous glint in his dark brown eyes, which kicked Buzz into defensive mode, knowing nothing but bad could come from this.

"Wait a minute, I know that look, whatever your idea is, the answer is no," he quickly answered, talking loudly, hopefully to drown out whatever the idea was. "I remember the last time you had that look, and in the next two hours, Crystal was chasing us around the Star Ship. Fake ransom e-mails are not funny, and they will not get us out of this problem!"

Woody shook his head, putting his arm around his friend, about to reveal his plan. "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, just keep an open mind about this little idea, it might have a chance. What if you just happen to, oh, I don't know, fall in love with Jessie? This might soften the news of marriage a little if you two are madly, deeply, hopelessly in love with each other."

Buzz couldn't believe how insane his plan was, but, at the same, knew exactly what he meant. "Well, uh, I don't know if Jessie would want to, you know, go out with someone she just met…" He realized he was stuttering, while Woody watched with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, so you're too chicken to go with the plan?"

"No!"

"Buzz, I know you like Jessie."

"I do not-What?" He went still, slowly turning his body to face his friend, who was watching him with a knowing expression, going serious again. "You-you know, but I thought…I'm not even sure if I love her that much already, but I'm so confused! I can't be in love with someone I just met, can I?"

"Buzz, there's this little thing called 'love at first sight' where someone falls in love with someone else that moment they see them. It happened with you and Jessie, it was slight, but I could still sense it. Buzz, if you just talk to her, you guys could become a good couple, I swear by it," he assured him, taking off his hat and smoothing his hair a moment.

Buzz thought about this in careful consideration before answering. He knew, after much thought, that he really liked her, but feared that she didn't feel that way. In fact, he was actually scared that she would laugh or reject him without thought. He gathered the gumption to speak again, trying to muster all of the courage to attempt this. "Okay, I'll talk to Jessie, on one condition: do you or do you not, like Dolly?"

Woody didn't have an answer: did he even think about Dolly all that way? He felt like he had always known her, from the way she spoke to the way she looked to the way she acted. Dolly wasn't exactly beautiful, but he thought she was individually pretty. She was sarcastic, but not snaky, confident, but not stuck-up, caring, but not sappy. What was he supposed to tell Buzz?

"Yes Buzz, I think I like Dolly. But, for now, we need to get you to Jessie, you need to explain to her how you feel."

**Agh, this chapter was way too short! *Face palm* Hope you enjoyed it though, even if you didn't, I think I went too in depth with the whole relationship thing. Well, whatever, I practically killed myself trying to write this chapter, so please a review, even if you hated it. I also have another story coming out soon, named "Home Again." Here's a brief summary: A doll named Alex was near-death in the Caterpillar Room, until Bonnie took her home. Buzz thinks he's falling love, but doesn't say a word about it. Jessie learns all about Alex, and she, Alex, Woody, Buzz, and Dolly embark on a journey to return Alex to her old owner, even if it means rejection once more. Ugh, this summary sucks, but, I swear, the story will be much better. PLEASE REVIEW! If you review, you will receive pie! =D!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Discussion and a Lost Tooth

Chapter 5:

The Pledge

**Yee-haw! I'm back, with the fifth chapter! You guys are so awesome about reviewing, I'm glad y'all enjoy this story as much as I like writing it. We left off Jessie confessing her feelings to Dolly, as Woody and Buzz tried to pin the girl's reactions in skits. Plus, Buzz admitted that he liked Jessie to Woody, as he confessed that he might like Dolly to Buzz. All right, with all of the crazy love in the air, who will confess first? Read, review, and enjoy!**

Buzz's confession to Jessie would have to wait, as night fell over the Star Ship. He had already checked on the girls, finding both asleep, but didn't foresee himself getting drowsy that night. Buzz instead visited the main control room, this time wanting to see Crystal.

The blond, even at ten-thirty, was still at her desk, the headset still on, as always. She pushed a mug of coffee towards Buzz when he walked in, hiding her smile under a portfolio, continuing to type. "I swear, you must be some kind of physic, how did you know I was coming up here?"

"When you're a receptionist, you learn stuff like that," Crystal answered confidentially, turning off her headset, but still not removing it. She flicked off the computer, grabbed her own mug of coffee, and sat on the edge of her desk, taking a sip. "So, what's on your mind space ranger, haven't seen you since Rex told ya that marriage rule."

"Well…" Buzz started, finding a way to ask her the question he needed to ask without her officially laughing herself to death. "I need some advice on…girls."

Just as he predicted, Crystal did a spit-take with her black coffee, nearly spraying Buzz with the hot shower. She lost it, laughing so hard she snorted, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her ice blue sweater, shaking her head. "So, you come to me at ten-thirty two at night for advice on other girls? Buzz, two years ago I got married, you think that I'm an expert on romance? Well, you're right, I am an expert."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh, you don't believe I had my own online dating service before I became a receptionist," Crystal asked, with her eyebrow raised, muffling more giggles. "Don't give me that look, we could call Slink right now and ask him, he knows, that's how we got to know each other. Oh, but really, don't call him now, it's one in the morning on Earth, he'd kill me."

Buzz rolled his eyes, even though he was laughing too, clearing his throat to set their conversation on a more serious note. "But really, I came down here for real advice about girls, because of Jessie."

"I knew you would like Jessie," Crystal stated, taking a sip of her coffee, nodding knowingly. "Don't know why, but she seemed like your type, Dolly was a bit more sullen. Jessie is pretty nice though, she's just a little enthusiastic and emotional at times. And, you've fallen in love with her, but you need advice on how to tell her, because you're not sure if she feels the same way."

Buzz stared at her a moment, just long enough to make her a bit uncomfortable. "Uh, hello, can you at least knock before entering my mind?" he asked, shaking his head. "At least turn off the physic, mind-reading thing, I want this to be strictly business."

"Buzz, I've known you for about three years, there is no more 'strictly business.' You can be strictly business with Nervous Rex in there, but not me. C'mon, just relax, I won't bite, I swear," she coaxed, taking a quick sip of coffee, looking at him with inviting frosty blue eyes.

"Okay, fine, I think I've fallen in love with Jessie, but I can't be exactly sure, I'm so confused. I mean, she just met me, I'm afraid that she won't feel the same way, or, God forbid, love someone on Earth," Buzz added, shivering at the thought that Jessie was in love with somebody else. "You don't think she'll reject me?"

"Nonsense Buzz, you're nice," Crystal assured him, uncrossing her legs, letting them swing freely from her perch on the desk.

"Yeah, but that's it: I'm _nice, _but that's pretty much it," he muttered ruefully, not thinking of himself as anything terrific. He may've been "nice" there was nothing more to him, except for the fact he was organized and could hold his breath for two minutes.

She shook her head fiercely, tossing her paper cup in the trash can, kicking off her white trimmed boots. "No way, you're brave, you're a freakin' commander on the Star Ship. You're kind, you took in Jessie and Dolly, with only one complaint, you've already taken to Jessie. Hell, you can make friends with someone in less then a day, but make them last forever. You did it with Woody, you did it with John, you did it with me. C'mon Buzz, boost your self-esteem, imagine yourself the greatest person in the world."

He shut his eyes, but only let out a long, frustrated breath, opening one eye. "Uh, sorry, can't imagine myself being 'The Greatest Person In The World.' But, you're right, I shouldn't be that shy around Jessie, maybe I'll talk to her tomorrow morning. Thanks for the advice Crystal, I never knew you could do romance."

"Hey, I helped direct 'Lady and the Tramp.'"

"Really?"

"Nah, just wanted to see if you would fall for it."

Buzz threw his empty coffee cup at her, both of them laughing, as he started for the doorway, turning around once more to look at her. Crystal was pulling her bed from the wall, but she glanced back up at him, grinning. "Ya up for the challenge, space ranger?"

He nodded, and walked out of the control room, feeling happier with the newfound advice, not to mention the stronger relationship he had formed with Crystal. Buzz remembered the way she had fooled him about her romance, laughing all the way down the hallway.

0o0

_Screams, crashes, shatters of bottles breaking, gunshots…_

_Dolly found herself at the bar, her face pressed against the window, her hands creating imprints on the frosted windows. No matter how hard she screamed, no sound came out, there was no way for her mother to hear her._

_Her beautiful mother was trapped in the middle of it, her flaxen hair spilt across her face in tangles, cheeks roughed up, pink dress ripped and stained. Bo's cerulean eyes were wide in terror, as Woody's father, Damon, started towards her._

_"No! Mom, run away!" Dolly shrieked, tears running down her face, banging her fists against the window. Bo didn't seem to hear her, as she screamed herself, while Damon lifted his empty beer bottle. Someone else, one of his beer buddies, had a loaded pistil with him, cocking it towards Bo._

_As Dolly yelled for her mother to run, sobbing in defeat, she realized there was someone next to her. He was seven, like she was, with dark brown eyes, coffee-colored eyes, and was yelling as well. He looked over at her as well, both watching the terrifying battle take place. "That's my Dad," the boy whispered, pointing shamefully at Damon, who was muttering something that Dolly could never repeat._

_"That's my Mom," she whispered, body flinching when she heard the gunshot, which seemed to echo through the night, followed by a few hollers from the drunk men. Dolly sank to the snowy ground, sobbing at the loss of her mother, as the boy lowered next to her. He hugged her once, shrugged off his cow-print jacket, placed it on her shoulders, whispering in her ear._

_"Then I'm so sorry."_

Dolly opened her eyes, real tears running down her face, her shoulders shaking. She was silent though, knowing it was nighttime, just because the lights were off. There was no way of telling, considering the lack of sunlight or moonlight from the vastness of space.

How could she dream something in that much detail, after it happened so long ago? Dolly had seen it happen, on that snowy, as her beautiful mother was murdered by a man she used to love. That boy, who had stood next to her at the window, who had given her his coat, who had apologized.

_"That's my Dad."_

_Woody._

That was it. Dolly sat up completely, even as her arm tingled painfully, remembering his matching brown hair and eyes. They had met before, as they watched his father murder her mother, which now broke her heart. She might like somebody whose father killed her mother…

He had apologized though.

Dolly sighed, running her fingers along the stitches, despite the sudden twang of pain. This had to be the most mixed-up she ever felt, full of angst over her mother, full of pain over the wound, full of…love? Did she love him? Could she even think about loving him after everything that had happened, or even want to love again?

She wished that it wasn't night, so she could talk to him, maybe clear all of the thoughts swirling around in her head. He was on her side after all, he was ashamed of what his father did, he didn't want this either.

Dolly looked over at Jessie, who was fast asleep in bed, her hat in one hand, her clay horse figurine in the other. She examined her best friend, who, even in the darkness, looked as beautiful as a dewy new rose. Her silky red hair was splayed across her pillow, without a single tangle or flaw. Her milky pale skin was rather attractive, no blemish in sight, nor had she had bad skin in their teenage years. Even though they were closed, her deep green eyes were shiny and emerald-like, framed with dark eyelashes. Who wouldn't be in love with her, not to mention her boundless energy, caring attitude, and loveable nature?

_No wonder Buzz admires her; no surprise Jessie likes him back, _Dolly thought to herself, curling up against the wall. She knew that Jessie liked Buzz, even after these few hours on the ship, even if the cowgirl had never said it aloud. What chance did she have, with her strangely colored hair, nondescript onyx eyes, and shorter stature?

Angry, a bit tired, and in need of some room to think, Dolly climbed out of bed, shoving her work boots on without tying the laces. She tiptoed into the hallway, finding it a completely different place at night. The normally blaring fluorescent lights were off, relieving the environment of the business-like nature. No one else was there, so she had the entire hallway to herself, which wasn't exactly thrilling.

She took a single echoing step, before smoothing her hand against the cool wall, remembering it from earlier, how she pressed her cheek against it right before she tried to kill herself. The thought was now chilling, over what would've happened if Woody hadn't stopped her earlier. How would Jessie react to that situation?

Dolly had never, in all of her life, been in love with anyone, nor had she even thought of romance as anything more then an overwhelming popular movie genre. Now, she was afraid that she was falling in love with someone she had just met. Was that even possible?

She found herself at the boy's door, her left ear pressed against the rather thin metal covering. From inside, Dolly could hear Buzz and Woody's mingling soft snores, along with the gentle hum of-what sounded like-a clock. Was she going crazy, standing at his door like some kind of insane person?

She shook her head at herself, turning around to dart back to her room without waking anyone up. Unfortunately, in her haste, she tripped over her untied shoelaces, falling flat on her face in the hallway. Dolly resisted screaming, knowing that would wake everyone up, but she came awfully close to it when she found her front tooth on the floor and her lower lip bleeding.

_I'm so damn clumsy, _she thought darkly to herself, as a single tear ran down her cheek, cradling her pained jaw, looking down at her tooth. _This is the second time today that I've hurt myself, all because of my stupid emotions running wild._

"Dolly?"

_Oh, damn._

She glanced upwards, seeing Woody above her, the door slightly agape, with a concerned expression on his face. Dolly knew she must've been a sight: on the floor, at his door, at two in the morning, bloody, about to sob, missing a tooth. "Dolly, what happened?" he asked gently, kneeling next to her, as she grabbed her tooth from the floor.

"I-I didn't…I mean, that night…and, you apologized," she stuttered, pain, confusion, and what felt like love all mixing together, disorienting her, whipping her into her dream. As Dolly looked up, she saw that he looked different at night as well. His hat was off, his dark brown hair mussed, the lines of stress more visible in the poor lighting.

"Shh…it's okay Doll," Woody assured her, taking the orange clad girl in his arms, so that he could read her expression. She seemed so sad, so confused, her purplish hair in wild tangles since they had come out of her ponytails, her lip and gums bleeding. "Here, come inside."

Dolly allowed him to lead her back to his bed, where the strange hum was, in fact, an alarm clock. She was barely aware of him peeling back the covers, until she was back in his arms, both warm under the blanket.

He couldn't believe he was doing this, letting her get in bed with him, something that felt so awkward, yet so natural, at the same time. It had been a huge surprise to find her on the floor, but he had almost wanted it, just to confess what he was feeling to her. "Calm down Doll, it's okay, I swear, tell me what's wrong."

His voice was so soothing, as Dolly clumsily reached for his hand, holding on for comfort. "I didn't mean to come in like this," she whispered, finally collecting the gumption and logic to speak, her voice low, as to not weak Buzz in the other bed.

"It's not your fault, you were hurt, besides…I wanted to tell you something," Woody started, searching for a way to tell her how he felt. "I, well, I know I've only known you for, like, a day, and I know you want to go home, so, uh-"

"Woody."

"Hmm?"

Even though it was embarrassing, considering her still bleeding jaw, Dolly leaned over the short distance to his lips, where they collided, in a sort of clumsy, mistaken kiss. It was a feeling she had never experienced before, all of the bad thoughts, the depressed thoughts, the suicidal thoughts, flying from her head.

When it was over, he smoothed a lock of her hair off of her forehead, smiling through the darkness. She looked happier, grinning with a space in her mouth, allowing him to pull her in close again. "Goodnight Dolly."

**Ha! Fluff! I love it! The beginning of the chapter, when Buzz had the discussion with Crystal, was sort of a filler. And to all y'all Dolly haters, just try to embrace this idea, she'll grow on you, believe me. The next chapter will be, I swear, completely Buzz/Jessie, don't worry. All right, click the button, it'll make a cool noise!**


	6. Chapter 6: Lack of Oxygen

Chapter 6:

Lack of Oxygen

**I am back! I was so busy with "Everything But The Toy Box" and, my personal favorite, "Speak Now" I totally forgot to update this! It's Buzz/Jessie time, I know you guys have been waiting for it, after the Woody/Dolly chapter before. Yay! Here we go, with the two admitting how they really feel about each other! Read, review, and enjoy!**

Buzz heard his alarm clock go off, a noise that he dreaded hearing each morning, just because he enjoyed sleeping in, especially after such an eventful day. He rolled over, half-asleep, slapping his hand down on the alarm clock, knocking it to the floor with a thud. Buzz sat up, awakened completely by the loud noise, reaching down to pick it up. When he looked back up, though, he dropped it again, as well as his jaw.

Woody and Dolly were in bed-together…_that does not compute, please try again. _Woody, his best friend, his only friend since yesterday, was in bed with Dolly, a girl he had met only a day ago. In bed. Together. His brown hair was unruly, sticking up in spikes, his arms around her, a smile on his face. Her purple locks were spread across the pillow wildly, a gap in her teeth, her head laid on his chest.

"Oh my God!"

Buzz exclaimed this a little louder then he thought he would, which awakened the two. Woody, who had been on the edge, fell off, while Dolly jumped, both screaming, until they saw Buzz. "Oh, dammit Buzz, why so early in the morning?" he murmured, pulling himself back into bed, as she snuggled back beside him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I wasn't the one who was sleeping with a stranger," he countered, as Dolly sat up, throwing him an evil glare, which he only returned. Woody threw his leather cowboy hat at his friend, still tired and uncooperative, propping himself up on the pillow.

"For your information Buzz, Dolly got hurt last night, I was letting her sleep in my bed until she felt better, we weren't, you know, 'sleeping' in bed," he explained, laying his head back on the pillow. She opened her mouth wider, pointing at the missing tooth and dried blood on her lips.

Buzz was still bewildered, even if he knew that they weren't "sleeping" in bed, they were still in bed together. It was sign from last night, when he had asked if he might like Dolly. Apparently, his vague answer was a yes, because they were in bed. Together. The thought still didn't feel right in his mind, so he just hopped into the shower to wash away the thought and set his mind on Jessie.

0o0

That morning, the boys escorted their female partners downstairs to the cafeteria, where they were serving breakfast. There were a generally large amount of people, so food choices were set like a buffet, accompanied with multiple tables.

After the four had gotten their plates, they sat down at an empty table, knowing that Crystal wouldn't be there. She almost never ate, she mostly survived on coffee, or nibbled on something while she worked.

"So, Dolly, where were you last night?" Jessie began, taking a bite of her cinnamon roll, letting the icing dribble down her chin before wiping it away. Buzz eyed Woody, who shrugged, as Dolly took a sip of orange juice before answering.

"Oh, I went for a walk, it was a little stuffy in our room," she answered simply, knowing it wasn't enough, as told by Jessie's raised eyebrow. "And, you know, I tripped in the hallway, hurt myself-big surprise there, right?-and Woody let me sleep with him. The end."

The redhead choked on her cinnamon roll, spitting it into her napkin, a combination of laughter and shock. Dolly shielded herself as crumbs of cinnamon-sprinkled bread flew towards her. "You were in bed-together?" Jessie asked, trying to catch her breath, rubbing are her frosting covered mouth.

"Don't worry, I said the exact same thing," Buzz spoke, while the other two rolled their eyes at the drama. Sleeping in bed-yes together, for the final time-wasn't such a big deal, especially when they had only slept in the bed, and nothing else.

"Buzz, don't be such a drama queen," Woody interjected, while Jessie snorted and Dolly muffled her laughter with her orange juice. "Seriously, don't give me 'the look', us in the same bed, at the same time, isn't that bad. We were only sleeping, I swear right now, with God as my witness, we did nothing else."

Even Buzz couldn't argue with "God as my witness" so they dropped the matter, returning to a silence. He was trying to figure a way to confess how he felt to Jessie, to go to a place where they would be alone, where he couldn't be called away for work, somewhere she would relax and be happy.

After breakfast, before she could wander off, Buzz quickly caught up to her, as she turned. "Uh, Jessie, do you want to come with me downstairs, into the star room? I, uh, have something I want to tell you," he added, when her eyebrow raised suspiciously. Woody caught his eye, doing a "you aren't telling her the secret?" gesture, which Buzz waved away before Jessie could notice.

"Sure, sounds like fun," she agreed finally, looking down at her rumpled clothes. "Uh, give me a quick minute to shower and change, okay?"

Buzz nodded in relief, as they journeyed back to their rooms, keeping his eyes on Jessie until she disappeared into her room, with Dolly on her heels. He didn't realize he was staring at a closed door, until he heard Woody's voice in his ear: "You picturing Jessie in the shower?"

"Agh!" he exclaimed, jumping back and hitting his friend at the same time, who was already cracking up at his own joke. Of course, the thought had crossed Buzz's mind momentarily, but he hadn't gone in depth about it. "God, don't do that!" In need of a little payback, he smiled mischievously, letting the rare slightly dirty comment back. "You picturing Dolly in the shower with you?"

Woody turned bright red, as he socked Buzz in the arm, but that didn't stop him from bursting out laughing at his come-back. "Fine, we're even, just…don't say that again, we're taking it slow, showering will have to wait." He stopped a moment, the two still staring at a closed door, the only sound occasional thumps and the shower running. "What kind of shampoo do you think she uses?"

Even though Buzz was dying to say: "Why don't you find out yourself?" he held back. "I don't know, maybe the weird shampoo that we saw at the general store, 'Purple Haze.' I bet you five bucks that Jessie uses 'Luscious Redhead', she seems like the type."

There was silence, until Woody started laughing again, turning to Buzz. "We're actually thinking about what shampoo they use," he established obviously, "we're thinking about what shampoo they use, and we have to marry them. Something about that just doesn't work out, doesn't it?"

Suddenly, Dolly opened the bedroom door, watching them with one eyebrow raised, before walking out, wearing her orange dress, which was pressed, her work boots now tied. Right as she passed Woody, she purposely tossed her hair, just so it whipped past his nose. "By the way, I do use 'Purple Haze', thanks for noticing," Dolly hinted playfully, while he turned red again. Before Buzz could laugh, she turned to him, her hands on her hips. "Oh, and Jessie uses 'Luscious Redhead' for conditioner, her shampoo is 'Bubbly Rose.'"

The boys could only exchanged muted embarrassed looks, as she strutted past them, followed by Jessie, who grabbed her friend's good arm. "Whoa there Doll-face, remember what John said: you gotta stay in bed for awhile, so the stitches can heal."

Dolly pouted, sticking out her lower lip, as she tried to twist out of Jessie's grasp. "Really? Come on, it doesn't hurt anymore, just let me be free of our room, I might go crazy if I stay in there any longer," she begged, as Jessie shook her head firmly, trying to braid back her hair by herself. "Please? Pretty please?"

The redhead let out a long, exasperated breath, mostly because she was failing at braiding her hair. "All right, fine, but if your arm falls off, or something, don't come crying about it to me. Now, while you still have both arms, can you please do the braid in my hair?"

She shook her head, smiling, as her nimble fingers went to work on Jessie's fine, red hair, tying it off with a yellow bow. "All right," Dolly finally said, motioning for her to bend down a moment to whisper something in her ear. "Listen, I have a feeling that you and Buzz are going to have…a nice day, I just wanted to wish you good luck."

Blushing the tiniest bit, Jessie giggled, as Dolly raised her eyebrow, thinking about her friend's newfound romance. _Jessie just giggled? Wow, _she thought in awe, watching as Jessie disappeared down the hall with Buzz, their shapes and voices slowly fading.

Dolly glanced at Woody, who was grinning towards her, as she pulled him towards her bedroom, the door slamming behind them, as laughter suddenly erupted from inside the room, along with the sound of a surprised shriek.

Oh, don't worry, they were just having a tickle fight.

Meanwhile, Buzz was savoring every moment with Jessie, as they journeyed down the steps, into a room given the title as "The Star Room." It wasn't as important a room as others on the ship, but it had a more breath-taking view then even the control room.

He felt overjoyed when he heard her surprised gasp, then the feeling of her arms grabbing his shoulder happily. "Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful down here! I can't believe you never brought me down here!" Jessie exclaimed, running over to the largest window, which provided a look at space, as far as it went. In the very distance, Pluto was coming into sight, but they were still a ways from it.

"I'm glad you like it," Buzz spoke, approaching an excited Jessie, who was staring dreamily out the window, the stars shining in her emerald eyes. "I, uh, actually came down here, to tell you something…" he continued nervously, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Yeah?" Jessie asked slowly, her heart suddenly beating incredibly hard against her ribs. She had a feeling that she might know what it was, but she couldn't be sure, so she didn't get her hopes up. Suddenly, there was a beeping noise, and Jessie found that her trouble breathing wasn't just nerves.

Buzz gasped, as he ran over to the panel near the window, quickly punching in something before the beeping noise returned, along with the hiss of oxygen. While Jessie took in a deep breath, he mentally slapped himself, wishing he had remembered to reset the oxygen supply before they came downstairs.

"Sorry if that scared you Jess, the oxygen levels downstairs can get out of whack sometimes," he apologized to her, quickly walking over to her, hoping she was okay. "You're all right, aren't you? I mean, I wasn't expecting something like that to happen, but I hope that it didn't, I mean-"

"Buzz," Jessie laughed, putting an arm around him to hug him quickly, to put an end to his rambling. "It's okay, I'm fine, don't worry about it," she assured him, her face inches from his, as his face went red. "Before you say what you needed to say, I-I want to tell you something."

He found himself rambling something to her, about how he wanted to know if she felt the same way, but Jessie put her finger to his lips, immediately silencing him. "Buzz, Dolly and I have been on this ship for about two days, but so many things have happened since then. And one of those things are…"

He gathered the gumption to say it, as did she, so their confessions came out as one, mingling into a single admitting, emotional answer:

"I think I've fallen in love with you."

Jessie gasped aloud, looking into his azure eyes, clutching his hand in excitement. "Y-you feel the same way?" she asked excitedly, watching as his face lit up in anticipation at her feeling the same way. "You mean, you're in love with me, so I don't have to follow you like some love-sick puppy, like in a stupid, romance movie?"

Buzz laughed, just a little at this, while she jumped into the air, landing next to him, knocking him over, with her on top. At that time, they're faces were so close, their noses touched, feeling each other's panting breaths. Jessie lifted his head, so that their lips touched, a gentle kiss, as her hat fell to the side.

Crystal tiptoed downstairs, peeking into the Star Room, seeing Buzz and Jessie kissing on the floor. Pressing a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles, she switched off her headset, then turned to Slink, who was smiling next to her. "Toldja it would work," she whispered to her brown haired partner, who laughed, pushing slightly at her arm.

"Golly Bob howdy, you still got ya old romantic skills," Slink joked, pulling his arm around her, kissing her cheek, as they watched Buzz and Jessie embrace on the floor, still not aware of anything else around.

**Ta-da! Yikes, it was way too short, but I hope you guys enjoyed the Buzz/Jessie inside of this, along with the slight Woody/Dolly (who are becoming more flirty by the moment) and Slink/Crystal! Whoo-hoo! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, 'cause even if you didn't, you must review, or I'll come after you in the night, and go all Dolly on you with a pocketknife! All right, please review, thanks for everyone else favoriting or reviewing! I'm glad you guys enjoy this! Review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Boys and Girls

Chapter 7:

Boys and Girls

**I'm back! This is so much fun to write! Whoo-hoo! All right, we left off Buzz and Jessie having their first kiss, which was very popular. Oh, by the way, to the people who were wondering, Jessie and Dolly still don't know the marriage rule, Dolly only heard them talking about the shampoo. All right, here we go, read, review, and enjoy!**

Jessie finally broke away, lifting her head slightly, catching her breath, as she gazed into his azure eyes. "Wow, Buzz," she whispered, his face turning pink a little, while she kissed him again, shorter this time. "That was amazing, so does that mean…?"

"We're a couple?" Buzz suggested, while she nodded, bringing her lips back down to his again, the only thing visible her bright green eyes. "I guess it does," he whispered, as he lifted her, bridal-style off of the floor, something he never thought he'd actually find himself doing. Jessie giggled in surprise, letting her thin arm drape down, grabbing hold of her hat.

"Good, that's what I wanted to hear," she giggled, finding herself doing that again. Even if she wasn't girly on Earth, and still wasn't, she found that romance wasn't as corny as she thought it was. In fact, Jessie was absolutely worshipping romance now, especially when Buzz smiled down at her.

As the two made their way upstairs, Woody and Dolly walked out of the room, still laughing in short intervals at the thoughts of what they talked out. She never knew that opening up her heart again would work out so well, she had met someone that might stay with her.

When they saw Buzz carrying Jessie up the stairs, with her laughing a bit giddily, there was a moment of awkward silence, while they turned red. Finally, after exchanging just one look, Woody and Dolly fell to the ground, laughing out loud, while he almost dropped Jessie, who clung to his neck, giggling in surprise.

"That was quite interesting," Dolly gasped, rolling onto her stomach, placing her chin in her hands, watching as Jessie got to her feet, giggling as Buzz pecked her cheek. "Wait a minute, does this mean you two are, you know, a couple now? Scratch that, where in the world did you guys go, you just kind of disappeared?"

"Buzz took me to the Star Room, it was _amazing _down there," she sighed dreamily, while Dolly finally got to her feet. "Well, aside from that, what were _you _guys doing while we were downstairs?"

"Stuff," Woody promptly answered, Buzz snorting, as Dolly hid her laughter behind a cough. Jessie gave him a light slap to the arm, with Buzz grabbing her arm, pulling her back in. "Fine, I messed with her hair, are you happy now? I messed with hers, she messed with mine, then we tried to see how many things could look like her missing tooth. See? While you two were having a make-out party downstairs, we were just goofing off."

"Check it out!" Dolly exclaimed, pulling back her lip to reveal a small, white mint that they had chiseled to resemble her lost tooth. "Looks real, doesn't it?" She then reached up, running her hand through his hair once more, as his face turned the tiniest bit red.

Slink and Crystal appeared, with her running down the hallway, jumping up, squealing, and throwing her arms around Jessie. "Oh my gosh, I knew this would work!" she exclaimed, as Jessie tried to place the blond stranger that was hugging her. Wait, wait, don't tell her…

"Oh, what was that about, Crystal?" Jessie finally asked, as the ice blue clad girl giggled, while Buzz turned red, motioning for her to stop talking. When the redhead turned around, he hid the motioning by scratching his neck, trying to look casual, until she turned back around.

"Oh, nothing," she sighed playfully, while Slink cleared his throat, the blond giving him a light hit to the arm. "We just wanted to congratulate everybody for having such a good time. That's why Slink, and his sister, visited our ship from the American Shuttle Expedition 1995."

"You have a sister?" Buzz asked, while Jessie kept her arm wrapped around him, placing her hat on his head. Slink nodded, as someone stepped lightly out from behind him, another girl, smiling brilliantly.

She had long, silky, luminous blond hair, pulled up with a green ribbon, bright blue eyes, and absolutely flawless tan skin. She wore a stretchy blue-green outfit, a pink belt, striped leg warmers, and pink high heels, which might've clashed on anyone else, but on her, it looked perfect. The girl, who looked about eighteen, giggled, sticking her hand out for Buzz to shake it. "Hi! I'm Barbie!"

"You sure are," he sighed, while Jessie shared a look with Dolly, as both girls socked him in the arm, awakening him. Jessie glared at him a moment, before kissing his cheek again, Barbie giggling once again. "I mean, it's nice to meet you Barbie, your brother's wife is a wonderful contribution on the ship."

Woody glanced at how resembling Barbie was to Crystal, who was rolling her eyes at Buzz's quick rebuttal. Dolly nudged him, motioning at the end of the hallway, where a man-shaped figure stood. He turned around, hurriedly placing his arms protectively around Dolly's chest. "Hello?" he called at the end of the hallway, as the figure ran into the light.

Barbie gasped, running towards the figure, who was indeed a man, only eighteen as well. He had prep-school style brown hair, navy blue eyes, muscles, tanned skin, and a six-pack visible through his pulled down blue and yellow shirt, blue shorts, and plastic sneakers. He beamed at her, as they pulled in for a kiss, pulling in his head for the most passionate kiss possible.

Everyone watched, as Dolly made a gagging motion, while the cowboy tried his hardest not to burst out laughing at her motion. When they _finally _pulled away, the boy laughed, keeping his arm around her waist, as she gazed lovingly at her. "Uh, everyone, this is my boyfriend, Ken. He was on the American Shuttle with me, just so we could spend more time together."

Everyone turned away to roll their eyes, as Crystal grabbed Jessie, Dolly, and Barbie, ducking into the girl's room. Slink did the same thing with Woody, Buzz, and Ken, sliding into the boy's room.

Once inside the girl's room, Crystal turned to the confused woman, sitting on Jessie's bed. "All right, now that everyone's in love, I decided that we need to hold a little 'girl's' conference. Barbie, you've only known Ken for a year, yet you two are already neck-deep in love."

The blond giggled, putting a hand to her strawberry pink lips, thinking of her boyfriend, who was in the room next to them. "Well, Ken _is _the only boy I've ever loved," she mused, while Dolly rolled her onyx eyes. She wasn't one for mushy, romantic love, which she was trapped around in with Jessie and Barbie.

"Oh no Dolly, don't you dare roll your eyes, you were the one messing with Woody earlier today," Crystal quickly reminded her, while the purple-haired girl rolled her eyes again, despite Crystal's warning glare. "Girl, you were messing with his hair, he was messing with yours, you were making fake teeth."

A hint of blush crept into her cheeks, but she quickly shook her head, rising to put hands on her hips. "But that's different: I wasn't downstairs, holding a make-out party, nor was I in romantic embrace in front of six other people. We're just having fun, instead of all that sappy, mushy romance junk."

"Must I bring up the sleeping?"

"We were only sleeping! Why can't anyone grasp that?"

Jessie, in turn, rolled her own eyes, while Barbie stared at her dumbfounded, as she brought one of her manicured nails up to her mouth to chew. "Fine, gee Crystal, did you bring us all in here for Dolly to get mad at us?" she asked, while the orange clad girl shot her another glare, which she returned.

"No! Geez, I brought us all in here to discuss our budding relationships, not to argue!" Crystal exclaimed, now shouting, until she took a deep breath, pressing her fingertips together. "All right, now, there's something that all of you should know: including you Barbie, pay attention."

After the three girls were looking up at her, Crystal took a deep breath, turning the volume all the way off on her headset, watching as they stared at her curiously. "Well, on the Star Ship, a rule has been established…"

0o0

Slink waited until the three men were sitting on Buzz's bed, before pressing his arm against the wall, hearing his wife's voice from the other side. He smiled, tucked a lock of his rich brown hair behind his ear, then turned to the confused boys. "All right, we're here to talk about one thing: women."

Buzz did a face palm, while Ken nervously coughed, and Woody rolled his eyes. "Barbie's not a woman yet," Ken mumbled under his breath, as Slink crossed his arms, blowing a lock of his hair off of his forehead.

"Fine, forget the women part, we're here to discuss our new and old relationships with female persons of our society, whom don't know the rule," Slink rephrased, his tone growing a bit louder by the second, deep and Southern twanged. After they looked on in shock, he smiled triumphantly, beginning the talk again. "Now, we all know that we officially have girlfriends and/or wives now, so we have to tell them the rule somehow."

"I think that Jessie will be rather pleased to learn that she is forced to marry you," Woody established, while Buzz turned red again, punching his friend in the arm. "What? I'm just saying that she probably won't throw herself off of the ship if she's forced to marry you. In fact, I'd think she'd get married onboard, with _Rex _are her best man."

"Oh my God, if you don't stop right now, I'm going to get all Dolly on you, and freakin' kill you," Buzz stated harshly, while Ken didn't even bother to hide his laughter. Slink shook his head, knowing that he was never going to capture their full attention. The two best friends got way too distracted, way too easily, it was hard to stop that.

"Fine, so Jessie will be fine about it: what about Dolly and Barbie?" Slink asked, crossing his arms again, awaiting the answer from the two brown-haired boys, tapping his foot impatiently. They both colored red a moment, before slipping into deep thought, trying to picture their girl's reactions.

"I don't think Dolly would exactly murder me," Woody started slowly, remembering the fun they had earlier in the room. "She'd be kind of surprised at first, maybe a little bit mad, but I don't think she would turn it down-hopefully. I mean, I really hope she won't, because that would totally, completely suck."

"It would suck," Ken agreed, as Buzz gave him an obvious "Really?" look. "If I told Barbie, I don't think she would murder me, nor turn it down. I mean, things are already getting pretty serious between us, but I think we have some time before we have to marry each other. We're a little young, but I don't think she'd react too badly, Barbie is pretty mellow."

"Yet not the sharpest crayon in the tool shed," *** **Buzz whispered to Woody, who almost cracked his ribs trying to hold his laughter inside. It was true, Barbie wasn't exactly the smartest _blond _who had ever lived, but that didn't mean she wasn't likable.

"Then, we've got to admit this," Slink finished, motioning to the wall, where the girl's muffled voices could still be heard. "We're the men, we're the stronger species, we can tell our female companions that they're forced to marry us! We are the stronger species!" He stomped his foot on the floor, succeeding in stubbing his toe inside his shoe, while he gave a little scream, falling back on the bed, pressing his lips together to muffle his swearing.

"Yep, we're the stronger species all right," Woody remarked sarcastically, while Slink reached over to throw a pillow at the cowboy, who simply threw it right back.

"WHAT?"

Jessie's shriek was absolutely deafening, going right through the thin wall, hitting their ears like stones against glass windows. Ken grimaced, while Woody turned to Buzz, keeping a straight face as he held out his hand. "Okay, you owe me like ten bucks, I totally predicted that was going to happen."

Buzz sighed, and placed a dollar bill in his friend's hand, before they ran into the girl's room, where Crystal stood with her hands over her ears. Jessie was standing up, her arms in the air, eyes the size of apples, mouth wide open. Dolly looked ready to pass out, scream at the top of her lungs, murder everyone, or all of the above. Barbie just sat on the bed, her jaw slack, just in complete shock, while Crystal ran to Slink, gesturing to the girls. "I told you it was a bad idea to tell them now."

Buzz did another face palm, while Ken quickly sat next to Barbie, putting his arm around her. Jessie screamed once again, throwing her hat in the air, like she couldn't believe it at all. Woody turned around, towards the door, turning his head towards to Buzz to address him:

"I'll go ahead and hide in my room, just tell me when Dolly is coming in to murder me."

**Ha! This chapter was mostly a filler, until the end, since they all know the secret now. Hope you guys enjoyed the humor and appearances of Barbie and Ken! This chapter was kind of hard to write, because all I can think about is the climax, which is-oops, I don't want to spoil it! All right, please review!**

***=Heh, "Yet not the sharpest crayon in the tool shed," that's what my best friend, Paige, says all of the time. 'Cause it's like a twist between "not the sharpest crayon in the box" and "not the sharpest tool in the shed." **


	8. Chapter 8: I Won't Kill You, Yet

Chapter Eight:

I Won't Kill You, Yet

**Hey everyone, I'm back with the next chapter of "Aboard" a story spreading like wildfire! =D! I'm so glad everyone likes it, because there's only about two to four more chapters left. But, after that, I'm writing a story entitled "To Be One", about the toys being sold to a little girl named Nicolette, who has also received Bo at another yard sale. Summary coming later, okay? All right, read, review, and enjoy!**

Jessie finally stopped screaming, and turned to Buzz, who was standing awkwardly at the doorway, waiting to see what her final reaction would be. "Buzz? I-I, we just started dating about twenty minutes ago, we have to…marry to stay on the ship?"

"Yeah," he admitted, nervously awaiting to see if she would throw a tantrum, or throw herself out of the window, or possibly both. "You're not mad at me, are you?" Buzz added, afraid that she was angry at him for not telling her the news earlier.

"No, just a little overwhelmed," Jessie confessed, sitting down on the bed, using her red cowgirl hat to fan some air towards her face. He sat next to her, putting his arm around her, watching as Slink, Crystal, Barbie, Ken, and Dolly slowly exited the room, all probably talking to their mates about the marriage rule. "Buzz, I love you, but…"

"It's okay," he uttered, even though it wasn't: Jessie was the only girl he wanted to marry, he couldn't think of anyone else. "If you don't want to marry me, that's okay, you can pick someone else, someone on Earth, you're allowed to go home."

"No, no, no, Buzz, it's not like that," Jessie quickly told him, gently holding his chin, turning his face towards hers, looking straight into his eyes. "I love you, I really do, I do want to marry you, it's just…a big shock, all of a sudden, I'm going to be married." She gently pulled his face towards, so they were kissing, softly, slowly, silently, before continuing. "I'm just glad that I got to know this when you were on board, I wouldn't want to marry anyone else now."

"Really?" Buzz asked, surprised, as a smile turned her soft lips upwards, leaning forwards again, so that her red hair fell across his cheeks as well, her green eyes the only thing he could see, her nose pressed against his.

"Really, Buzz."

Meanwhile, in the next room over, Dolly was still in shock, barging right into the boy's room, where Woody was hiding underneath the blankets. She knew that he probably thought she was ready to murder him, which still had a faint chance of happening, but she still sat on the end of the bed, pulling the blankets back. "Relax cowboy, it's me, not to Grim Reaper."

He grinned sheepishly, retrieving his fallen hat, as they lay backwards in bed, their feet resting on his pillow. The awkward silence continued to grow, but they didn't try to end it, just listened to the faint hum of the engines beneath them. "So…I guess Crystal told you about the marriage rule," Woody started, as her face heated up, or maybe it was just the angle they were laying.

"Uh, yeah," Dolly whispered, wishing that he hadn't brought it up so quickly, she was enjoying laying backwards in silence. "I-I guess you can say I wasn't expecting that today, especially since we started dating…" She looked over at the clock, surprising herself when she saw what the time was. "We've only been dating for about ten hours, eleven hours if we fell asleep at two o'clock."

"Yeah, well, we weren't expecting it either," he confessed, sitting up, as she looked up at him to see what his next move would be. "Rex told us the same night you two arrived, it was definitely a huge surprise." Woody ran his hand along his cow-print vest, glancing over at her, a smile on his face. "You're going to kill me when I say this, but we acted out how you and Jessie would react to the news. Buzz owed me ten bucks because I predicted Jessie's reaction perfectly."

Dolly raised an eyebrow before throwing a pillow at him, both laughing at his confession. She felt so happy when she was around him, so carefree, able to laugh without forcing it. But, could she really, truly marry him without the little voice in the back of her head telling her she made a mistake? She loved him, but…

"For real though," he started, quickly setting the tone of the conversation back to serious. "It's okay if you don't want to marry me, I mean, once the mission is over, you two are free to go back home. But, Buzz and I have jobs here, if we don't marry _someone, _we'll have to go back home forever. You're not forced into this Doll, it's your decision."

_Gee, no pressure, _Dolly thought to herself, rolling over, propping her chin up with her elbows as she looked up at his dark brown eyes. Out of all of his features, his eyes were her favorite, chocolaty and sparkling, the window to what his was truly feeling. "Well, if it's my decision…" she began, trying to make her voice as cold and unemotional as possible, attempting not to laugh as a look of disappointment and panic crossed his face.

Dolly pulled Woody off of the bed, bringing her arms around him, as they tumbled to the floor, so that their faces were inches from each others. "If it's my decision cowboy, I don't think you were listening to me all the way. And if you were listening, you've got yourself a bride, just…no pink, it makes me look like a lollipop."

He laughed out loud, staring down into her deep, onyx eyes, which were now twinkling with in anticipation, laughter, and satisfaction. "Well then, if we can't put you in the pink, frilly dress I had planned, we'll just have to give it to Jessie to wear, who is now probably Mrs. Lightyear."

"Hey, just call me Mrs. Pride."

0o0

That night was for celebration, as Barbie had cheerfully agreed to marry Ken, much to the boy's relief. It was for planning, it was for friendship, it was for Crystal to surprise everyone by drinking too much champagne. There was going to be three weddings, one right after another, as they tried to plan what order to hold them in.

"I think we should have Buzz and Jessie's wedding first," Slink spoke, as Dolly continued to doodle in the notepad meant to write notes down in. Crystal giggled giddily, so Slink patted her head, instructing her to go back to their room and lie down.

"But Slink, I'm your brother!" Ken exclaimed, in a half-playfully, half-whining way, as Barbie stroked his perfectly combed brown hair. "Besides, we're going back onto the American Shuttle in a week or two, we can't wait too long to hold our wedding."

"We can wait," Dolly interjected, sketching a cowboy hat at the top of the page, still only paying a little bit of attention. "I want Buzz and Jessie to go first, I don't know if I can tie the knot before my friend does. In fact, I think we made a bet, back in sixth grade, that Jessie would get married before me. I don't want to lose."

"I remember that!" Jessie suddenly cried, slamming her fist lightly against the table, turning to Dolly. "Because you had just gotten your braces taken off, and I couldn't get my locker open, so we were trying to pass the time while we got a new lock. We made that stupid bet about who would get married first, and you know what we bet? Bubblegum."

Buzz covered his mouth to hide his laughter, but Jessie just glanced at him sideways, a smile spreading across her face. "Interesting bet," he remarked, while Barbie giggled once more, tossing her luminous blond locks.

"Braces, huh?" Woody whispered in Dolly's ear, as she hit him in the arm, smacking his hand lightly with her pen. On the notepad page, all she had written was: "Barbie and Ken must get married before the week is over" and "Don't let Crystal drink anymore champagne-ever."

"Shut up, it was a different time," she replied, as Slink tapped his water glass with his fork to catch their attention once more. It didn't work very well though, because Buzz, Jessie, Barbie, and Ken were all distracted by each other, breaking into a conversation.

"Y'all, come on! We've got to get this thing up and running before it all falls apart!" Slink finally snapped, as they turned back to look at him, as he took a deep breath, calming himself. "Now, getting people for the wedding is going to be easy: Rex, John, Crystal, and I can play whatever isn't occupied by one of you. The weddings won't be large, but I can guarantee beautiful rings, great clothing, and good food."

They nodded, as he sighed, pointing to Dolly, who began to write things down on the pad. "All right, let's see…here is an appropriate order: Buzz and Jessie's wedding first, Barbie and Ken next, then Woody and Dolly." Slink thought a moment, unable to think of anything else that was important enough to write down. "It's late, I've got a drunk wife to take care of, so if you're extremely worried about it, consult…other people."

He got up and left, leaving the others alone, only talking a little bit before drifting away, going different directions. As Dolly went to Barbie to ask her if she had anything in orange, Woody caught up with Jessie, a persistent question nagging to be asked.

"Jess, I was just wondering," he began, as she stopped, turning around, pulling down the brim of her hat. "Is Dolly the kind of girl who likes to make a big deal out of things, like weddings? I mean, she doesn't seem like the type to, but you've been her friend longer, so I was just wondering how she feels about weddings."

"Take a chill pill, she just doesn't like people making huge deals about special events," Jessie explained, laughing a little as he visibly relaxed. "She's not the kind of person you want to put in a dress, neither am I, but Dolly detests pink with all of her heart. It's kind of scary, actually. But, just calm down, if Buzz and I can do it, you and Dolly can do it-easily."

Woody smiled in relief, thinking of his own best friend marrying, still in shock that they were all getting married to each other. "Thanks Jess, you've been a big help," he admitted, awkwardly reaching forward to hug her. She was surprised, but accepted it, so they were in embrace, but only for a moment.

In that moment, however, Dolly happened to be coming around the corner, grinning at Barbie's discovery of an orange dress in the back of her suitcase. About to tell this to Woody, she started down the corridor, stopping short when she saw him hugging Jessie. No…no, not after he had just pledged his love to her, they were going to get married, he wasn't cheating on her.

"That's what I'm here for, you better love it," Jessie spoke happily, which sounded convincingly like romantic interplay to Dolly. She had seen too much, watching with tears in her onyx eyes as they broke away, leaving her miserable and confused at the end of the hallway.

"How could you?" Dolly finally shouted, causing both of their heads to turn in surprise, at her new fiancé and best friend…together. "How could you go and cheat on me like that, especially with my best friend?" Tears were actually falling now, despite how hard she blinked them back, too fast for her to brush away.

"Doll, this isn't what it looks like," Woody started, stepping towards her, trying to place his hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away. The tears disappeared, fire suddenly flaming in her dark eyes, pushing him forwards. Stumbling, he looked on in shock, at how she was growing even more angry, for something he didn't even do.

"Just…get away from me," Dolly whispered, running back upstairs, to the girl's room, the sound of her door slamming heard all the way down the concrete stairway. As soon as she disappeared, Woody turned in fury, kicking the wall with his boot, her irate behavior making him even more mad.

"Why didn't she listen to me, why on Earth would I cheat on her days before my wedding?" he half-yelled, while Jessie grimaced, clamping her hands over her ears. She didn't like that she was mixed up in this either, considering that she had to share a room with Dolly. Still, her purple haired friend _could _make assumptions, even though that was more of a Jessie thing.

"Calm down cowboy, I'm sure that if we talk to her, she'll understand," she spoke, dusting off her chaps. "This isn't going to ruin your wedding, or even your relationship, I promise, things will be okay. Hey, I'll come with you, I'll be your official witness: well, even if she thought I was the one you were cheating on her with. Man, why do I feel like I'm living in a Sarah Dessen novel?"

Even Woody, who was still fuming, had to roll his eyes at that, as they went back up the stairs, to the rooms, where they could hear Dolly throwing something against the wall. He winced, as she looked to the side, avoiding the death glare he was throwing her, pretending to be very interested in the fluorescent lights.

He gently rapped his knuckles against her door, as Buzz, Barbie, and Ken strode back into the hallway, their eyes growing wide as Jessie filled them in on the situation. Slink walked out of the end door on the hallway, leading a, now sober, Crystal behind him.

"I'm not coming out!" Dolly yelled from the other side of the door, while he blew his brown bangs off of his forehead in frustration, glancing at Buzz and Jessie, who waved him on. As much as he didn't want to, Woody knocked timidly on her door again, which, after a few moments of bitter silence, opened, revealing Dolly's tear-stained face.

"Yes, my cheating, evil fiancé?" she muttered viciously, in a tone that made him flinch like never before. Despite the angry act she was pulling, he could see the hurt in her eyes, the tender hope that she had found someone that would listen to her.

But, Woody had no chance to explain to her what really happened, for there was an ear-splitting alarm, one that filled everyone's minds with the word "emergency." The halls went dark, then were bathed in an eerie red glow, as girls clutched boys, soft screams coming from everyone. He saw her trying to retreat back into her room, and reached for her, attempting to pull her back into the hallway.

Muffled screams came from Crystal's headset, as her ice blue opened wide in fear, turning to Buzz. Both ran in the direction of the "Up" stairwell, heading for the highest deck, sadly ignoring Jessie and Slink's cries of surprise.

Ken ran to the center of the frantic group, his large, navy eyes illuminated by the crimson glow of the emergency alarm. Barbie gripped his arm, the lights giving her face a younger appearance, tears running down her cheeks. "Guys! I know this alarm: the ship's going to-"

_CRASH!_

**Ah-hah! Cliffhanger! This was the big climax I was talking about, from Dolly thinking Woody and Jessie were together, to the ship crashing! Oh, no! What will happen to Buzz, Jessie, Woody, Dolly, Crystal, Slink, Barbie, and Ken? The suspense is going to kill me if I'm not careful, so, review and see who'll live and who'll…die? =O! Review! (Oh, by the way, my story, "The Hardest Part" has been cancelled!) Review!**


	9. Chapter 9: Fiance or Forgotten?

Chapter 9:

Fiancé or Forgotten?

**Left you guys on the cliff didn't I? Ken was just yelling about the ship about to crash, Buzz and Crystal had gone to the front lines, and Dolly thought Woody was cheating on her. Oh, by the way, there's supposed to be three weddings before Barbie and Ken go back to the American Shuttle. Wow, I've got a lot to wrap up…oh, well, read, review, and enjoy!**

Jessie cracked open her eyes, seeing the boundless of space set above her, along with the sudden fear striking her heart, both hands reaching for her throat. If she was exposed in space, how could she breathe, was she going to die out here? There was a hiss of air, familiar, as the emergency oxygen supply was activated, quickly pumping out enough over the wreckage to create an atmosphere.

Now, Jessie realized, she was surrounded by wreckage, of what had once been the Star Ship, her temporary home, it was all destroyed. Drywall, plastic, seats, metal: it was all demolished, plus fires were beginning to spread across the crash. She didn't know where in the world she was, but the only thing she wanted now was that her friends, and Buzz, were okay.

Jessie took off her hat, miraculously still on her head, pulling it to her chest, her breathing shallow and uneven, as if she would have a panic attack. Was she hurt? After observing herself, she found that, aside from the bruises and scrapes, she was overall fine. But, that was the least of her worries, she just wanted to know if everyone else was okay.

Images of Buzz or Dolly or Woody injured made her heart ache, as she jumped to her feet, looking around the wreck, tears sliding down her ashy cheeks. She had to find someone, Jessie couldn't be alone, sitting among the scraps, alone in the vastness of space. Thoughts continued to enter her mind, as her chest tightened, tears falling even faster.

"Jessie?"

Shrieking softly, she turned, to see Woody standing in a cloud of smoke, barely able to make out his tall, gangly form in the gray swirling around him. He limped further outwards, his hat clutched loosely in one hand, face bruised and dirty, left ankle twisted in a way it shouldn't. "Oh, thank God, I was worried about you," he murmured, as she stood, running into his embrace.

"I was worried about you, I was so scared that everyone was…gone," Jessie whispered, grabbing his cow-print vest, looking down at his ankle injury. "You're hurt," she quickly said, bending down to observe the twist, "here, sit down, let me look at this before you start walking on it again."

Impatiently, Woody allowed himself to sit, extending his left leg for her to examine. "I haven't found anyone else yet, and by the looks of it, I don't think you have either." He winced as she turned it, checking to see how flexible his joints were after the injury. "Buzz and Crystal were at the head of the ship when it happened, so they might be harder to find-ow, what are you doing?"

Jessie, eyebrows furrowed, turned his ankle once more, a snapping sound echoing, as he sighed in relief, reaching down to massage the joint. "Ha, that worked on Trixie Schaal when we were in grade school, I knew it would work again. All right, come on, we've got to find…someone now, anyone, maybe Buzz."

He looked up at her sympathetically, but she turned her head away from him, tears brimming in her emerald eyes. Woody knew how much Jessie loved Buzz, and, even as his best friend, he couldn't imagine how much she longed for him. "It's okay Jess, we'll find him," he assured her, slowly ambling to his feet, finding that he could put weight on his ankle.

"I know," she whispered, quickly rubbing at her eyes, her back still turned against him. "C'mon, let's go look for someone," Jessie spoke again, trying to sound like everything was okay, even though her heart was breaking like a vase. There was so much wreckage to paw through, it would take a long time to find everyone.

While they walked, overturning large chunks of drywall or pulling out splinters from piles of destroyed wood, they thought of everyone on the ship. Buzz, Dolly, Crystal, Slink, Barbie, Ken, Rex, John; they were all on the ship and lost from sight. It was frightening, not having everyone in one, secure location, yet they pushed on, trying to act brave.

A hand suddenly popped from the ground, zombie-like, as they both shrieked, stumbling backwards from the hand. It was attached to an arm, of course, pulling itself out of a semi-demolished bed. Barbie appeared in front of them, gasping for breath, her beautiful face bruised and bloody. Her blond hair fell in blood-flecked tangles around her face, but she managed to pull herself forward, seeming to be on the very brim of unconsciousness.

"Ken," was all she was able to mutter, before falling to the ground again, as Jessie took off her hat once more, fanning fresh oxygen towards her face. Even if she had only known Barbie for a few hours, she still cared about her, she cared about everyone now.

"Jess, you stay here with Barbie, I'm going to keep searching," Woody instructed her, a brief flicker of refusal crossing her face before she nodded, continuing to fan fresh air into Barbie's face. Jessie watched his receding figure, her chest feeling tight, as she looked down at Barbie's bruised face.

"He'll find them," she told the unconscious adolescent, her thin fingers stroking her still silky blond hair, ignoring the sensation to cough and ruin the moment. "He promised."

Woody turned his head upwards, looking at the vastness of space, stars placed like a billion little fireflies fluttering through the nighttime sky. Through every window, every dashboard, even the Star Room, the views were nothing compared to the real thing. But, he quickly turned his gaze back to the ground, searching for a single person, anyone.

Most of all, he wanted to find Dolly, laugh with her again, make jokes, see the gap in her teeth, the red butterfly clip, the ponytails, the orange dress, the mismatched buttons: he wanted to kiss her again. Woody also remembered how upset she had been when she thought he was cheating on her. They had both been angry, but he didn't want that to cost her life…

"Oh, dammit."

That voice. That word. He matched the two up, unable to hide the grin spreading across his face, bolting further into the smoke cloud, coughing, trying to spot the orange shape in the grayness. "Dolly!" Woody yelled, waiting impatiently for her to reply, as he saw an orange and purple blob in the distance.

"Woody?" The words barely got out of her mouth before she was knocked backwards, pulled into a crushing hug, which she didn't try to fight. In fact, she found herself doing half of the hugging, pulling him as close as physically possibly, trying to catch her breath, his hat grazing her forehead. "Oh, my God, I was so worried, I couldn't find anyone-"

"I know, I know," Woody interrupted, finally pulling away to see her again, the features the same: onyx eyes, round, tan face, the cute little gap in her teeth. "I found Jessie, she's okay, we both found Barbie, who just has a minor concussion. They're both back there, but I came out here to look for you, Buzz, Slink, Crystal, and Ken. Are you okay?"

"Fine, my stitches just broke," Dolly explained, thrusting out her arm, displaying the previous wound, which had re-opened. The gash was bleeding, while the skin turned green and black around the area, which was both disgusting and…well, disgusting. "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt half as bad as it looks…well, it looks pretty damn gross."

He laughed lowly, glad she hadn't changed, before slowly slipping his hands in hers, the two starting away from Jessie and Barbie, silently deciding to continue their search. Even though both were depressed and scared, they both felt a little bit more safe with their fingers entwined, the only sound their footsteps crackling and ringing in their ears.

"Wake up miss, please miss, wake up," a voice pleaded in the distance, a slightly high-pitched male's, which Woody and Dolly recognized almost immediately. Their eyes met, only for a moment, before they sped across the smoldering landscape, identifying the tone as soon as they heard it: Ken.

He was kneeling next to someone they couldn't make out, his perfect hair rumpled and ashy, a long, but shallow, gash running up his upper arm, only looking a little bruised and shaken up. The closer they got, they could see it was Crystal, all too still, blood covering most of her body, bone sticking from her leg. The surprising-and scary-thing was, her headset was still on her bloody head, static roaring.

"Ken!" Woody called, as he looked up, tears forming in his dark blue eyes, guilt and terror crossing his face, inching away from the blonde's body. Dolly patted the upset adolescent's shoulder, an attempt to calm him down, though it did little to the pressured Ken. Upon only discovering Crystal, who now lay on the brink of death, he was horrified, frightened that this fate had been shot to the others.

Knowing there was no way to mobilize her without further damaging her spine, skull, or leg, Woody had to grimly break the fact to himself, easing his hands under her body, lifting her. Dolly's head bent in silent mourning, her soft tries to console Ken forgotten, the four moving swiftly and silently through the cloud of smoke.

When they arrived back to their first destination, Barbie had come to, now crying softly, as Jessie patted her back, tears suspended in her own eyelashes. Jessie saw the four coming, a mix of relief, disappointment, and sadness at their safe return with Ken, no Buzz, and Crystal's body. "Is she…"

Dolly nodded sadly, pale, as Ken fell to his knees, embracing Barbie, the two eighteen year olds rolling on top of each other, crying, kissing, trying to assure each other at the same time. Jessie helped Woody lay Crystal down to the ground, the three gathered around her, looking at her in silent regret. He knelt down, gently taking off her headset, which officially died, smoothing her blood-soaked blond hair down.

"We can't just leave her here," Jessie insisted, as Dolly put her hand on her friend's shoulder, nodding in agreement. "If we have to, can we say a few words about her? It'll feel more…right, honorable, polite, formal, I guess."

"Crystal was always the hardest worker, but was still kind, funny, helpful, there whenever someone needed her," Woody started, flashbacks of all of the times she had been with them coming through. They had been acquainted ever since he started working on the ship, progressing into true friends.

"I didn't know her too well, but she was still incredibly nice, Crystal was the first to rescue us from the space pod," Dolly continued from where he left off, focusing on her feet, unable to look at the corpse in front of her. True, the blond had rescued them, gently coaxing them into the warm, safe arms of the Star Ship.

"She got Buzz and I together, she helped me find me true love, she's just…amazing," Jessie finished, a lump rising in her throat, thinking of what would've happened if Crystal didn't link her and Buzz together for that kiss in the Star Room. Now, that was gone, as was Crystal, when her eyes fell upon the wedding ring on her finger.

"Don't move! We're coming down to help you!" came a voice, obviously through a microphone, as a shadow fell over them, forcing them to turn their heads upward, seeing a huge space ship above them, "American Shuttle Expedition 1995" painted on the side.

A large elevator-like contraption was lowered from the bottom of the ship, big enough to fit everyone on, as Jessie and Dolly worked together to lift Crystal's body on. They waited, a bit impatiently, as they were pulled up into the shuttle, blinking at the sudden exposure to bright lights, as people rushed around them.

"I'm Andrew Davis, the ship's manager, but call me Andy," a young, brown-haired man quickly introduced, pulling them through the crowd of people, into a large room, equipped with medical supplies and beds. "When we heard about the crash, we immediately rushed out there to help you out. Right now, our search and rescue team is looking for the rest of your crew."

Overwhelmed and haunted, they nodded, as Andy noticed Crystal in the girl's arms, his face falling, an uncomfortable expression crossing his face. "Uh, pardon my asking, but is she…?" His voice trailed off, as they nodded, while he inhaled deeply, taking her into his arms. "Well, when the time comes, you can choose whether you want her buried or cremated."

They were once more surrounded with medical examiners, Andy disappearing from the room, carrying Crystal. Beds were claimed for each, IVs stuck into arms, showers taken, questions asked, silent, pitying expressions, raised eyebrows, tears glowing in eyes, but never falling.

Jessie took a long, shaky breath, after the medical team finally left them alone to rest, her hat resting on a hook beside her bed. Barbie and Ken were in bed together, holding hands, their cheeks seemingly permanently tear-streaked. Woody and Dolly were also in bed together, with her head resting on his chest, his arm tucked safely around her.

She thought about how alone she was, without Buzz, no idea where her fiancé lay, nor if he was breathing or had a pulse, for she was trapped in this stupid room, without someone in bed next to her, to dry her tears, or pull her in close. And for that, Jessie lay her cheek against the cool pillow, and allowed herself to break down crying.

**Aw…this chapter was a lot more depressing then I thought I would make it, mostly because I didn't think I was going to kill any characters. Well, I surprised myself, because Crystal is now dead, and Buzz and Slink are still missing, while everyone else is on the shuttle. Wow…if you want to know if Buzz lives or not, you better review!**


	10. Chapter 10: Lost and Found

_**Chapter 10:**_

_**Lost and Found**_

_**Ha! Everyone was so worried about where Buzz was and Slink's reaction, I just held y'all on the cliff-hanger didn't I? Well, I'm back, as we close this story: I'm not joking, this is the last chapter of the story, "Aboard" is almost finished! Don't worry, I've got plans for other things afterwards, plus updates to some of my REALLY old things ("This Time It's For Real", and "Split Lip.") All right, read, review, and enjoy!**_

_Jessie guessed she cried herself to sleep, because she woke up a few hours later, her eyes red and swollen, her cheeks tear-stained, a terrible taste in her mouth, like an old sock. Someone had dimmed the hospital room's lights, giving it the appearance of nighttime, which she only guessed it was. She kept her face in the pillow for a little longer, not really wanting to roll over, before giving in when she started to run out of air._

_Slowly, Jessie propped her chin in her hand, angling her elbow down, looking sadly around the room again. Barbie and Ken hadn't moved at all, still safely squished together in their bed. But, Woody was alone in bed, with his hand closed around empty space, giving Jessie thirteen seconds to worry where Dolly went. She then saw the chart at the end of their bed, which read that she had gone to surgery for her arm._

_She lay her head back down, curling up in a ball, grabbing her pillow, laying her salt-crusted cheek back on the cool, smooth surface. Now, her nightmare resurfaced in her mind, which she had been keeping quiet, until now, where it felt like a movie, projected right from her thoughts. Jessie sat in the dark, miserable, frightened, falling back into the terrifying world of her nightmare._

_It had been so warm there, compared to how icy cold the hospital room was, that it seemed like a dream at the beginning, not a nightmare at all. She had been standing in her milky wedding dress, a wreath of roses on her shining red hair, a bouquet of flowers held to her chest. The altar was set for a huge, fancy wedding, like those only in TV shows, with vases of flowers, tables of refreshments, large pews filled with guests._

_In the front pew, Woody and Dolly sat, both looking so happy, with her wearing a similar wedding dress, only hers was, indeed, shaded orange, while he placed his hat over her head, only for her to knock it off, laughing out loud. Beside them, Barbie was in Ken's lap, wearing a traditional, silky gown, glowing with beauty, while he was clad in a black tuxedo, kissing her cheek._

_Jessie was excited now, realizing that this was her wedding, that they were going last, as she stood at the head of the wedding scene, waiting for Buzz to join her, so they could be married and live, forgive her but, "happily ever after."_

_But, Jessie heard a familiar giggle, one that made her heart skip a beat, her stomach plunge to her feet, as she slowly turned to the pews again, trying to reassure herself that she didn't just hear the giggle. But, sitting there, with Slink's arm around her, was Crystal, wearing an ice blue dress, trimmed with white, her blond hair pulled into an elegant bun, holding a glass of champagne. "No…" she whispered, nearly dropping the flower bouquet, her semi-conscious mind reminding her of the blonde's death. "NO!"_

_Everyone quieted, as tears ran down her make-up applied face, shakily approaching Crystal, whose brilliant smile didn't falter, taking a sip of her amethyst drink, patiently awaiting the redhead's question. "Crystal…aren't you supposed to be dead?" Jessie asked timidly, trembling, as the ice blue clad girl laughed, throwing her head back, the scene melting away like snow in February around them._

_"Why, of course I am dear!" she exclaimed, standing, taking Jessie's arm, leading her to the end of the long, formal aisle. They walked through a fancy lobby, with velvet curtains, marble floor tiles, and gold thread embroidered seats, with her feeling more frightened by the moment. "Don't you want to say hello to Buzz?"_

_"Y-yes," Jessie stuttered, as Crystal opened one of the glass French doors, revealing Buzz, in a tuxedo, looking relieved to see her, as she stepped forward, taking his hands, wanting to break down into his arms. His azure eyes looked so inviting, like the summer sky, back home on the farm._

_"Oh, Buzz, I was so-" Jessie's heart stopped beating all together, too frightened to even gasp, realizing that her hands passed through his like she was a hologram, a shadow, a…ghost. "Wait a minute…Crystal, what's going on, why am I-"_

_"Oh, my dear, haven't you realized that this isn't your perfect life?" Crystal asked, snapping her fingers, as the lobby around them disappeared. Jessie turned in horror to her, feeling the floor vanish beneath her, even though she was still upright, seeming to be in inky, black space, with a familiar amount of glowing stars around her. "You're dead."_

_A scream caught at her throat, taking a few steps backwards, dropping the flower bouquet, about to fall to her knees before someone caught her, bringing her into their arms. When Jessie looked up, she realized it was her mother, whom she hadn't seen in so long, with her light green eyes and short, curly red hair. "Hi sweetie," her mother whispered, so soft and soothing, she couldn't believe it was her._

_"Mom?" Jessie asked, as her clay horse figurine was placed in her hands, her forehead was kissed, something cold was pressed against her temple. Her eyes opened wide, with the strangest sensation that she knew the cold item, trying to escape from her mother. The woman held fast, and Jessie had nowhere to run as the gunshot echoed, so loud, yet no pain seemed to come._

_It all seemed so real, that Jessie had a hard time believing she was back in the hospital room, wearing her dirty chaps and hat, not dead, not wearing a dress. Crystal had been so real looking, not to mention acting like she was truly there, even when she wasn't. All Jessie could think of was that Buzz couldn't even hold her, how she had been too transparent for him to take her hand._

_"Where are you?" Jessie whispered into the pillow, silently praying for Buzz to return, safe, for her heart longed for him so. Once again, faster then she could control, tears fell from her eyes, gliding down her cheeks then the pillow._

_0o0_

_When Dolly woke up, she was in another hospital room, all by herself, resting on a gurney instead of a stable bed, brand new, professional stitches in her knife wound, which felt, and looked, much better. Yawning, she ran a hand through her undone purple hair, realizing they had put her in a generic white hospital gown._

_Andy walked into her small room, holding his clipboard, looking tired, but relieved, approaching her side to observe her newly stitched up wounds. "Well, Miss Anderson, I'm glad to see your surgery went successfully, you may return to your friends after we monitor you for a few more hours. In the meantime, we have recently recovered some survivors from the crash, we think you might be able to identify them."_

_Dolly nodded, as did he, so Andy quickly walked back into the hallway, leaving her alone to ponder who they could've found while she was under anesthetics. She honestly hoped they had discovered Buzz or Slink, for they were the most important to her right now. Well, not to her exactly, but Slink had to know, and she knew how much Jessie wanted Buzz._

_So, when the door opened, and she lazily lifted her dark eyes in that direction, Dolly found herself at a loss for words, clutching the edges of the white hospital sheets, staring up at a pair of azure eyes. "Holy…Buzz, is that you?" she whispered, as a faint flicker of a smile passed his bruised face, while she saw he was seated in a wheelchair._

_"First you arm, and now this, huh?" he asked hoarsely, as Dolly blushed slightly, reaching out to pat his knee reassuringly, his other in a bulky, white and purple cast. "I wondered why it took you guys so long to find me, I was laying on the meteor, waiting for someone to come get me, seems like you were late."_

_"Hey, don't blame us, we were busy," she joked back, feeling a little relieved that he was playful about this, even though the subject seemed touchy, tender, a little too fragile to mess with just yet. Dolly quickly shifted the expression in her onyx eyes to more serious, as did he, sitting in the room in silence. "But, we're all pretty much okay," she started, catching herself, taking a deep breath, "except for Crystal. I'm sorry, she died."_

_This came hard to Buzz, as he closed his eyes, thinking of the blond, just days ago, pouring coffee and cracking jokes about her romance skills, this all seemed so distant since this week has passed. "Oh," he finally sighed, looking downwards, "well, that's just terrible, I can't believe it."_

_"It's okay Buzz Light beer, you need to be worrying about your own fiancé, she's really _upset," Dolly added, looking on in the emotion that filled his eyes, how his hand slightly clenched on the arm of the wheelchair. "Here, we'll go see her together, I need to visit my own boyfriend before he has a heart attack."

"But Andy-"

"Won't mind. I'll push you," Dolly offered, climbing out of bed, rolling Buzz away from the gurney, so that he didn't have much of a fight against her decision over where to take him. "Don't give me that look, this is for your own good, and Jessie's, she was so upset last night…well, I only saw her for a little bit, I fell asleep."

Buzz smiled slightly, anxious as they wheeled into the room, where the others were just starting to wake up, barely looking conscious without a cup of coffee. The instant Woody saw Buzz, he leapt from the bed, quickly running to his best friend's side, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Oh my God Buzz, I was so worried about you, where in the world have you been? No, wait, terrible question, your leg is freakin' broken, I shouldn't ask that, even though it's true-"

"Woody?"

"Yeah?"

_"Stop it."_

He realized he was rambling, by the two's raised eyebrows, as he rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling slightly. "Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was incredibly worried about you, and I'm so glad you're safe with us again, Buzz Light beer." Dolly choked on her laughter, trying to muffle it with her laughter, though it worked to no avail. "Oh, what now?"

"She's started calling me that," Buzz muttered, in a playfully sulky way, as Dolly started laughing, and, eventually, so did Woody and Buzz. Barbie happily waved from her bed, so did Ken, as he waved back to them, seeing that their happiness only came from seeing him all right.

Dolly tiptoed over to Jessie's bed, poking her friend's back, before gently shaking her shoulder, trying to wake her up. "Come on Jess, your love is here, Captain of the Stars, Buzz Light weight, he's here, come on, wake up before either of us annoy him to death, wake up, wake up, wake up!"

Jessie slowly awoke, slapping Dolly's hand away, groggily sitting up, her braid undone, in wild, bushy locks around her face, holding her pillow out, as if she was about to clock Dolly in the face for waking her up. Then her emerald eyes fell on Buzz, who was trying not to smile, his fingers itching to stroke her messy hair, as her jaw dropped to the floor, slowly pulling the sheets off of her body.

"Buzz?" Jessie asked softly, her boots hitting the tiles with a soft thud, standing upright, fearing that this was all a dream that would dissolve into another terrible nightmare, she had to be cautious. But, this didn't stop her from breaking into a run, pulling him as close as possible, her chest feeling tight again, trying to stop herself from crying. This was fruitless, as tears fell from her eyes, feeling so safe in his arms, the thing that had kept her up and made her cry and gave her nightmares, was right in front of her, but she loved it.

"Jessie," Buzz shushed her, his fingers smoothing her hair automatically smoothing it back down, while she tried to collect herself, feeling like a baby, even though she felt a lot better after crying into his arms, taking short, shallow breaths. "It's okay Jess, I'm here, don't cry, you have no idea how much _I _missed you as well."

She pulled away, still clutching his hands, seeing that his own azure eyes were glowing with tears, which was strangely comforting. Jessie also saw, just now, that he was in a wheelchair, turning her head up to him, eyes wide, as he shook his head quickly. "No, Jess, the doctors didn't want to give me crutches until my arms got stronger, this is just for the cast, nothing else."

Even though he was pretty much okay and right in front of her, Jessie pulled him close again, never wanting to let go, afraid that if she did, he would fly away, leaving her back alone in the hospital bed, longing for him…

0o0

"Do you, Jessica Cusack, take Timothy 'Buzz' Allen, to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Andy asked, turning to the last page of the old copy of the wedding vows he had found in the ship's library. He stood at the head of the cafeteria, where tables and chairs were turned, acting as pews, filled with occupants of the ship.

"I do," she spoke, so filled with excitement, she could barely say this without adding a little squeal, holding his hands, looking in his eyes. Her long red hair was down, straightened, glossy, while she wore the modest, milky white dress, like in her dream. Buzz had finally agreed to wear a tuxedo, his a black one, with a white shirt underneath. 

"And do you, Timothy 'Buzz' Allen, take Jessica Cusack to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, as long as you both shall live?" Andy asked, smiling, also excited, especially since he had been elected to be the preacher for all three of the weddings. After much debating, their wedding was last, after Barbie and Ken's, then Woody and Dolly's.

"I do," Buzz answered, awaiting for him to say "You may kiss the bride," but he didn't need to, because Jessie had already lunged forward, pressing her soft, strawberry tasting lips against his, wrapping her arms around his body, as everyone burst into cheers around them, standing and clapping, while Dolly whistled using the gap between her teeth.

Later that day, someone gathered them together for a photo, with everyone in their wedding clothes, smiling so big, you'd think their mouths would stretch off of their faces. Buzz and Jessie in the center of course, with his hand around her cheek, turned sideways to the camera, kissing softly, as if they didn't notice the camera. Woody and Dolly are next to them, with his arm around her, while she wore her orange dress, with him placing his hat on her head. Ken was holding Barbie bridal-style, like the two love-birds they were, her veil sliding off of her head. Among them, Slink stood, happy and sad tears mixing in his dark brown eyes, trying to smile bravely…

"Hey, Buzz, look what I found!" Jessie exclaimed, walking into the living room, where he sat on his laptop, busily clacking away at something, before turning to his wife, who held a large 8x12 photo in her hand, smiling widely. Her red hair was braided, of course, while she wore a long-sleeved white T-shirt and jeans. 

"What is it?" Buzz asked, as she shoved the photograph in his hands, his eyes widening when he recognized everybody standing around them. "Oh, wow, it's our wedding on the American Shuttle Expedition, I can't believe we haven't been able to find this after all of these years."

Jessie smiled, as someone rang the doorbell, while she ran to open the door, knowing who was visiting now. Opening the door, she saw Woody and Dolly, both smiling, while she held a large casserole dish in her hands, the ingredients hard to see through the tinfoil sheet over the top. Her purple hair was in two low ponytails and she wore a white T-shirt and an orange skirt, plus leather work boots. He wore his hat over his short brown hair, a red and yellow plaid shirt, jeans, and boots. "Hey y'all, come on in!"

"Thanks Jess, the place looks great," Dolly remarked, opening her mouth a little wider, revealing the tooth that never grew back. Jessie saw it, and refrained from giggling, just because she knew that missing tooth brought her together with her husband. "Are Barbie, Slink, and Ken coming tonight?"

"Yep, this will be a Thanksgiving we won't forget," Jessie remarked, as Woody greeted Buzz, the two sharing a hug for "old time sake" before going back to the couch to watch football. The girls rolled their eyes, before heading to the kitchen to prepare the dining room for the crowd of people to celebrate the holiday with. "This looks great, got a recipe?"

"Yep, I call it microwave."

They both laughed, as the men cheered from the living room, followed by the sound of a whistle on the television. The kitchen was filled with the spicy aroma of stuffing, just as the doorbell rang again, which Jessie went to answer, smiling and feeling nothing more then at home.

**Well, cornball ending, but I think I prefer this chapter, just because it's just kind of cute and fluffy, even if Slink was sad that Crystal died…aw. Well, at least Buzz was okay, and everyone had their weddings, just as planned, even if they weren't on the same ship. The reason they were at a house is because the Star Ship jobs were cancelled, so they all went to Earth and got jobs there. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it: REVIEW!**


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